Aix-en-Provence - France
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denben
N 43° 31.584 E 005° 26.769
31T E 697674 N 4822180
Once a street for horse-drawn carriages, Cours Mirabeau is now one of the busiest and liveliest places in Aix-en-Provence, steeped in history and the perfect place for a stroll.
Waymark Code: WMTY18
Location: Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
Date Posted: 01/21/2017
Views: 20
Aix-en-Provence is a city-commune in the south of France, about 30 km (19 mi) north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The Cours Mirabeau is a wide street in Aix-en-Provence delimited by the Place de la Rotonde to the west and Place Forbin to the east, it is the part of town to be seen.
440 meters long and 42 meters wide, the Cours Mirabeau is one of the most popular and lively places in Aix-en-Provence. It is lined with many cafés, restaurants and hotels and, during its history, was frequented by famous French cultural figures such as Paul Cézanne, Émile Zola and Albert Camus.
The cours Mirabeau houses a series of prestigious private mansions. One of them, the Hotel Maurel de Pontevès, located at number 38, attracts attention because of the two muscular atlantes, carved by Jacques Fossé, which decorate its door and support the balcony of the first floor.
The street has wide sidewalks planted with double rows of plane-trees. The Cours Mirabeau is decorated by fountains, the most notable of which is the Fontaine de la Rotonde, a large fountain that makes up a roundabout at one end of the street.
At the entrance of the Cours Mirabeau, two statues stand on either side, as if they were a gateway. They are the work of François Truphème and were carved in 1883. The allegorical group of the northern part of the cours is called "Arts and Sciences" while that of the southern part is called "Industries and Decorative Arts".
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