Church and oppidum of St Pierre les Martigues
Historic site and monument Religious heritage Church
Presentation
Facsimile of mud-brick houses from the iron age, stone quarries and medieval chapels.
On a hill in the heart of the agricultural plain, remains of the habitat and fortifications of a Gallic oppidum and a Gallo-Roman agglomeration (6th century BC - 1st century AD) which housed a population of peasants and fishermen maintaining privileged relations with Marseille.
For 600 years of existence, the village was able to communicate with Saint-Blaise, Cap Tamaris and the Ile de Martigues district of which it was the contemporary. Then in the 1st century AD, it was abandoned by the inhabitants who had come down to settle in the plain. For the indigenous populations who lived in the area of Saint-Pierre and Les Laurons during the Iron Age, there was a before and an after Marseille. While the Greeks and the Etruscans set up their counters (Massalia which would become Marseilles) in our region, the hills and valleys were populated by our Celtic-Ligurian ancestors. In the vicinity of Martigues and all over the Blue Coast, the natives (Avatians, Salians and Ségobriges) had gradually built their existence around a rural civilization: they lived on culture and livestock. Their habitat - perched on the heights - gradually becomes an organized oppidum with individual houses built around alleys and enclosed in ramparts.
With the development of the Marseille city, their existence will change. The wheat, the oil, the wine and the carved stone that they produce will allow the expansion of the Greek city. In three decades, the site of Saint-Pierre has revealed a large part of its secrets. The oppidum of Saint-Pierre becomes a national reference for knowledge of the Iron Age in the South of France.
In the heart of the hamlet of Saint-Pierre, emerging from the surrounding pine forest, the high white bell tower of the church of Saint-Pierre signals the presence of the building. The latter is of modest composition and it is not enough to push the front door to understand the genesis of the work, since its construction which could date back to medieval times, possibly resting on an ancient temple base. ...It has been extensively restored and reopened on June 19, 2018.
Today, the church has regained an aspect close to the composition established at the end of the 19th century. Purged of these parasitic appendages, its restored volumes once again reveal a harmonious building on a human scale.
Patrice Sales is the heritage architect in charge of the restoration project. (sources Direction Culturelles/Les RDV of Tuesday 2018).
Objects found during the excavations which revealed the Oppidum joined the Ziem museum. Two superb jars, ceramics, net weights, hooks and fish bones. There is also a terraced habitat, a fortification wall and huts. The interest of Saint-Pierre is carried by the observation of a rare technique concerning the successive foundations of stones.
For 600 years of existence, the village was able to communicate with Saint-Blaise, Cap Tamaris and the Ile de Martigues district of which it was the contemporary. Then in the 1st century AD, it was abandoned by the inhabitants who had come down to settle in the plain.
For 600 years of existence, the village was able to communicate with Saint-Blaise, Cap Tamaris and the Ile de Martigues district of which it was the contemporary. Then in the 1st century AD, it was abandoned by the inhabitants who had come down to settle in the plain. For the indigenous populations who lived in the area of Saint-Pierre and Les Laurons during the Iron Age, there was a before and an after Marseille. While the Greeks and the Etruscans set up their counters (Massalia which would become Marseilles) in our region, the hills and valleys were populated by our Celtic-Ligurian ancestors. In the vicinity of Martigues and all over the Blue Coast, the natives (Avatians, Salians and Ségobriges) had gradually built their existence around a rural civilization: they lived on culture and livestock. Their habitat - perched on the heights - gradually becomes an organized oppidum with individual houses built around alleys and enclosed in ramparts.
With the development of the Marseille city, their existence will change. The wheat, the oil, the wine and the carved stone that they produce will allow the expansion of the Greek city. In three decades, the site of Saint-Pierre has revealed a large part of its secrets. The oppidum of Saint-Pierre becomes a national reference for knowledge of the Iron Age in the South of France.
In the heart of the hamlet of Saint-Pierre, emerging from the surrounding pine forest, the high white bell tower of the church of Saint-Pierre signals the presence of the building. The latter is of modest composition and it is not enough to push the front door to understand the genesis of the work, since its construction which could date back to medieval times, possibly resting on an ancient temple base. ...It has been extensively restored and reopened on June 19, 2018.
Today, the church has regained an aspect close to the composition established at the end of the 19th century. Purged of these parasitic appendages, its restored volumes once again reveal a harmonious building on a human scale.
Patrice Sales is the heritage architect in charge of the restoration project. (sources Direction Culturelles/Les RDV of Tuesday 2018).
Objects found during the excavations which revealed the Oppidum joined the Ziem museum. Two superb jars, ceramics, net weights, hooks and fish bones. There is also a terraced habitat, a fortification wall and huts. The interest of Saint-Pierre is carried by the observation of a rare technique concerning the successive foundations of stones.
For 600 years of existence, the village was able to communicate with Saint-Blaise, Cap Tamaris and the Ile de Martigues district of which it was the contemporary. Then in the 1st century AD, it was abandoned by the inhabitants who had come down to settle in the plain.
Labels
- categories :
General information
- Parking :
- Parking nearby
- Style :
- Ancient
- Period :
- 19th C
Services, Tours, Activities and entertainment
- Historical patrimony :
- Historic patrimony
- Archeological site
Contact
Church and oppidum of St Pierre les Martigues
Place de l'église
Saint Pierre les Martigues
13500
Martigues
Phone : +33 4 42 49 03 30
Tarifs
Free access.
FICHE_INFO_SIMPLE_LIBELLE_DESTINATION
Église et oppidum de St Pierre les Martigues
Place de l'église
Saint Pierre les Martigues
13500
Martigues
GPS coordinates
Latitude : 43.3689
Longitude : 5.052591