La-cadiere - sommaire
1 - Mazarine door 2 - Paradise street 3 - St-John Gate 4 - Shepherds place 5 - Colle gate 6 - Big Oven street 7 - Consul place 8 - Old ramparts 9 - Hospital 10 - Old school street 11 - St-Andrew church 12 - The clock tower 13 - Auguste Charlois street 14 - André Favory street 15 - St-Côme chapel 16 - St-John fountain 17 - St-John ChapelMazarine door
On the 23rd of April, 1656, deliberations by the city authorities concluded the necessity of installing a door to the south-east for "the convenience of the inhabitants". To start this new project, it required the authorization of the lord, the abbot of St-Victor de Marseille, who was at the time Cardinal Mazarin. The authorization was given by Pierre de Porrade, vicar general of the abbey, in November of the following year, in the name of Cardinal Mazarin, who was also at the origin of the doors name. It has to be said that the chosen place was already royally famous, since a nearby house had welcomed Charles IX and his retinue, 92 years earlier.
In 1564, Regent, Catherine de Medici, widow of Henry II, decided to carry out a tour of France to present the young king Charles the IXth to his subjects. The trip would last 28 months. Alongside Charles the IXth, was his younger brother, the future Henry III and his cousins Henry of Navarre, the future Henry the IVth and, the Duke of Guise, all on the adventure. The court arrived in Provence in the autumn of 1564. In Hyères, the royal children discover with wonder the orchards of orange trees and their powerful smells. The countryside was adorned with exotic trees, palms, pepper and, eucalyptus ... On November 4, the king left Toulon to go to Marseille. He arrived at La Cadière by the gorges of Ollioules. It seems that he spent the night in a house near the current Mazarine gate. The next day, at noon, he was served a hearty meal of " wild boar, hares and rabbits", before heading to Aubagne.
For the record, the community had prepared the King two petitions . One demand was, that the village be exempt from the obligation to house the visiting soldiers and the other, sought to obtain authorization to hold two fairs per year, at St-André and St-Jean-Baptiste, as well as weekly markets every Saturday. The king rejected the first and accepted the second.
La-cadiere - sommaire 2 - Paradise streetParadise street
The name "paradise" was formerly given to small and well exposed gardens (in Provençal: pitchoun paradise) like those of the houses which run along the street above the old rampart. However, the term "paradise" was also the name given to the burial places of early Christians until the twelfth century. This name could therefore also evoke the first cemetery of the castrum. At its end was a porched house.
During the twentieth century, dilapidated homes were demolished to give the street a more airy appearance. The southern slope of the rock was the ideal setting for each family to establish vegetable gardens with Artichoke, cardoon, celery, lettuce, chicory, salsify, scorzonera, garlic, cucumber, tomato, raves, turnips, asparagus ... There are few regions in France where the population consumes more fresh vegetables than in Provence.
The lands where in the keep the old ones, no longer able to work in the fields or orchards due to their age. Men only went rarely, to do hard work such as winter ploughing. It was also the time to smoke the earth with horse dung as well as the ashes of the stoves and chimneys.
La-cadiere - sommaire 1 - Mazarine door 3 - St-John GateSt-John Gate
St. John's Gate is the oldest of the three. It was given the symbolic name after that of the previous parish. The rubble bosses present on its inner wall are remnants of a door present in the thirteenth century. It was transformed during the first half of the sixteenth century and kept its defensive aspect in the, with the cavity of the portcullis in the passage. In 1561, the municipality ordered "2 good strong doors at the best price". These are the two doors that make up the beautiful studded door we see today, Remnants from more than 450 years ago. The doors of the castrums have played an important role in the daily lives of people. The Middle Ages (5th to 14th century) was a very turbulent period: with invasions, robberies, wars, looting, and epidemics which followed each other at an impressive rate.
The doors were carefully closed at nightfall until the first light of day. The plain itself was surveyed on both sides of the rock and the ramparts by volunteers placed under the leadership of a "captain" who, was a soldier only in name. From 1592, when La Cadière was besieged, a "portanier doorman" was responsible for the opening and closing of the three doors with iron bars.
La-cadiere - sommaire 2 - Paradise street 4 - Shepherds placeShepherds place
La Cadière has never been a village centered on breeding. If the families possessed domestic animals it was mainly for the work in the fields and transport (oxen, mules, donkeys ...). However, there were some sheep-folds of note.
In 1607, the municipality had one in the "old Jas of the city". They had been Left In ruins since the Revolution, and have been replaced by another of the same name, with an area of 4000 m², located further north.
In the life of the shepherd and his flock the transhumance, was an important annual event. That is to say, the summer migration of all this little world to the mountains, allowing the animals to enjoy the tender alpine pastures. That said, man also found an immense feeling of freedom there.
La-cadiere - sommaire 3 - St-John Gate 5 - Colle gateColle gate
The city gates and ramparts has afforded protection against brigandage and other widespread looting since ancient times. They also had the task of keeping out diseases of all kinds such as, plague, cholera, leprosy, and syphilis. Unfortunately rudimentary hygiene favoured the spread of these. Sometimes the presence of doors and walls are not enough.
Information about these diseases circulated with difficulty and when it finally arrived, it was often too late. In 1507, 140 people died in La Cadière in less than a month. On the other hand, one of the most deadly (besides the black plague which raged in Europe between 1347 and 1352), the great plague of 1720 spared the village, thanks to the preventive closing of the doors, and increased vigilance on the ramparts amongst the precautions put in place.
All exchanges, all gatherings of commercial or festive origin were forbidden. "Health stewards" were appointed unto whom health protection was entrusted. When the barrier constituted by the doors seemed insufficient, walls and barricades were erected on the outskirts of the town. Every foreigner was quarantined in the district of Allon. Epidemics had a dramatic effect on public finances.
It was of course necessary to ensure supplies to the most modest of the population. The price of wheat soared. In addition, the interruption of trade heavily penalized the local trade. The epidemics were in addition to the many scourges that hit the hard-core populations such as wars, robbery, taxes, rabies, climate disasters and famines that resulted in A rough daily life, with A very high infant mortality rate and short life expectancy (14 years in the Middle Ages, 19 years in the 15th century, 26 years in the 17th, 40 years in the 19th century)
La-cadiere - sommaire 4 - Shepherds place 6 - Big Oven streetBig Oven street
The rue du grand Four is, an opportunity to present the various mills (wind and water) of the town. Their story begins in the archives of 1547 and ends with the first industrial revolution and the advent of the steam engine.
If today, the vineyard covers most of the countryside, it was not the same in ancient times. For families of the time, wheat was much more important than grapes, even hough the tradition of viticulture went back to Roman rule.
Thus, the plain was for the most part, covered with crops which provided the raw material for the flour mills. The farmers practised the three-year rotation: the first year with winter wheat, the second with spring wheat and the third with fallow (soil rest). Cut with a sickle, the cereals were then gathered in bundles, before being beaten to recover the grain. Each municipality had one or more threshing areas sheltered from the wind.
The two oldest windmills located in the north-east, are naturally exposed to the Mistral. The mill "Further from town" dates from 1547 in the district of Terrau, its younger twin, "Closer to town" was built the following year. Both were sold in 1592 by the city to pay a ransom due to bad choices made at the time of the wars of religion, and especially with the advent of Henry IV.
The mill of Font d'Abeille located in the parking lot of the same name dates from 1621. Finally the mill of Aires in the Mori square dates from 1762 and the one of St-Eloi Avenue Magloire Giraud dates from 1790. Only the base of the tower now remains.
Consul place
Little is known about how villages were managed in The Middle Ages . WE know They depended on the Lord. The daily life of the city council consisted in a succession of negotiations with the seigneur to obtain such and such a favour.
Consulates were created in Provence by Raymond Béranger (1209-1245), first in the big cities, then in the villages. By the end of the thirteenth century, the omnipotence of the Lords began to shrink to benefit the consulates (Fewer royalties, less chores and various benefits, and opportunity's to lower taxes). Local institutions were being set up with the appointment of temporary (or permanent) attorneys (or trustees) to settle a specific case, treasurers, and, captains were put in charge of a big event or fate, and, were also in charge of setting up the defences of the village in the face of an attack or an epidemic, and of schoolmasters, city valets, rangers ...
At La Cadière, there are many examples like, the appointment of syndics, for the funnelling of water to reservoirs, or the construction of the mills, or, taking charge of the great plague of 1720, the siege of 1592, etc.
Even if one can not speak of the existence of "municipal councils" before 1789, it would be wrong to believe that Provençal villages had little or no organization.
During the Ancient Régime (1515-1789), the lowest level of administration was the parish (60 000 in France). From 1539, the Villers-Cotterêts edict gave priests the task of keeping registers. The Consulates had well-defined powers (legal, fiscal, defensive and policing). The consuls were elected by a poll by all the inhabitants. Only heads of households were voters, and these included women when they were widows or public traders in their own right. The consuls term in office generally lasted one year.
On December 14, 1789, the assembly passed a law creating the communes (41,000 in all). From then on, it was mayors and councillors who managed the villages.
La-cadiere - sommaire 6 - Big Oven street 8 - Old rampartsOld ramparts
La Cadière village was formed during the first half of the XIth century under the name of Villa Cathedra, over a thousand years ago. charter 78 of the cartulary of Saint-Victor published in 1048 evokes a group of men, women, animals and businesses that belong to them. One may wonder whether this grouping is not the written expression of the culmination of the phenomenon called "incastellamento". A question arose about this villa. Was it a priory or a castle? Towards the end of the eleventh century, the term "castrum" replaced that of "villa", which indicates a fortified village.
The existence of fortifications has no longer to be proven, this is the case of all the villages of Provence whose origin dates back this far. oral tradition places it on top of this naturally promontory on the site of the chapel Ste-Marguerite built in the sixteenth century. this suggests that the castle was destroyed at this time.
A charter indicates its construction towards 1160, as well as the name of its occupant, Pierre Gaufredy, member of the family of the Viscounts of Marseilles.
There are two compounds whose remains are present today. The first one ran along the Jeu de Paume street and protected part of the old village. There are stone walls eroded by the elements and time, these had allowed archers to defend themselves safely. These ramparts completed the natural defence formed by the rocky bar to the north.
A second enclosure ran along Avenue des Anciennes Ecoles, rue Max Dormoy and Avenue Gabriel Péri . An Enclosure that houses the three doors of the village.
La-cadiere - sommaire 7 - Consul place 9 - HospitalHospital
Very early on La Cadière had a hospital (Ste-Marthe or Hôtel Dieu). Initially, this hospital did not have the medical vocation attached today by its name. It was more for hospitality and caring for the needy and other local beggars with (bread, water and shelter). According to the first municipal accounts of the sixteenth century, it had already been in existence for a long time. it was also surrounded by a cemetery.
In the Middle Ages, medicine was reduced to the practice of blood letting and some herbal potions probably without effect. With a little luck, the most robust patients healed, while the others ....
La Cadière hospital was not only financed by the Community but also numerous legacies and donations from individuals. For example, in 1726, the abbot of St-Victor of Marseille allocated 400 pounds for the purchase of 4 beds and 200 pounds for the "relief of the sick". The donations were for the hospital residents, even though, the building was falling apart.
Small successive repairs were not enough to consolidate the structure. Compassion for the needy stopped at the communal limits and was accompanied by a great distrust of strangers. They were not allowed to enter the city gates. There was, however, another category of the population rescued by the community, the Cadians captured at sea and enslaved by barbarians.
This situation seemed to be frequent and a religious order, the Trinitarians had taken on the mission of their redemption. In 1666, the Community bought a slave for 175 pounds and a few months later borrowed 2400 pounds, for 4 others. The freed slaves were required to repay the sum when they could.
La-cadiere - sommaire 8 - Old ramparts 10 - Old school streetOld school street
The first written reports of the municipal council were dated in the first half of the sixteenth century, the school already existed in La Cadière. It was held until 1551 in the house of the Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit located on Paradise Street.
It then, settled briefly in the Clock Tower, before ending up in the house of Saint-Esprit. The Community itself was responsible for the recruitment of teachers.
To decide between the candidates, a "competition" was held, this took place in the church. It was an important event which required the presence of the influential people of the village. During the seventeenth century, the wages of a schoolmaster were 75 pounds per year. In 1690 they were raised to 120 pounds. An important increase due to the lack of candidates.
In the fifteenth century the hours were as follows: from the 29th of September to Easter, 6 to 10 am and 1 to 5 pm The rest of the time, from 7 to 10 am and from 1 to 4 pm (Holidays were taken in August and September).
These schedules may seem busy, but as the students were of all ages there were several levels, So, no One child attended all the classes of the week. For the sons and daughters of peasants, work on the farm took precedent over school.
Under Louis-Philippe (1830-1848) each municipality of France had the obligation to create a "School of Primary, Elementary, and Public Instruction". La Cadière rented apartments on Rue Grande (Max Dormoy Street). The school consisted of a large room with an alcove, a spacious kitchen and a bedroom. The institution received 300 francs a year. It also received a bonus for each student of 1.50 francs a month for the youngest students studying morality, reading and writing and 3 francs a month for the older students, with the elements of the French language, calculus and the legal system of weights and measures.
In 1839, the city paid 1,100 fr the house in front of you, in order to establish the communal school and teachers lodgings. This school had been in operation for half a century when It was sold in 1891 for the construction of the new school group, under the guidelines of the new law brought in by “Jules-Ferry ”, still in operation today.
La-cadiere - sommaire 9 - Hospital 11 - St-Andrew churchSt-Andrew church
12th century documents note the existence of a church in La Cadière. It is mentioned for the first time in 1361 under the name of St-André.
At the beginning of the 16th century, it fell into ruin. Having become too small to receive all the faithful, it was entirely rebuilt on the same site in 1508.
A second bell was raised in 1541. There followed various repairs of the (roof, stained glass, benches ...) and constructions (tombs for the priests, the fitting of a door, and stairs ...).
In 1740, it was enlarged on the site of an old cistern and a shop. In the revolutionary period, the church became the temple of the goddess ‘Reason’, this was intended to bring together all peoples under the motto "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" and to return it to the basic principles of the Roman Republic.
Shortly after, under the first Empire, from 1804, the church was returned to Christian worship. A new bell tower was built in 1864 thanks to a donation of 18,000 francs. The old one had collapsed in 1875, after torrential rains.
La-cadiere - sommaire 10 - Old school street 12 - The clock towerThe clock tower
Until the twentieth century, the peasant world lived to the rhythm of the sun and the seasons. Vital records revealed that many people didn’t even know in which year they were born and would die without knowing how old they were.
The bells of the church signalled the main divisions of the day which began with the dawn mass. Before the 16th century, La Cadière possessed a "solar clock" installed above the Porte St-Jean.
In 1540, awareness grew of the need to install a modern clock with a bell. It was created in 1585 by the expert hands of Jehan Giraud, for 17 gold crowns. The problem then arose of choosing its location so that it would be visible to the greatest number of people. This is why the choice was made to build the tower outside the ramparts. In less than a year, the tower was built and the clock installed.
The previous year, the council had ordered a bell of 10 quintals from Jehan Ardisson, in Marseille founder to the king . A month later, it arrived in the port of Lecques on Jacques Rodins boat. The founder himself made the trip on horseback from Marseille to install it.
The maintenance of the clock was ensured by the valet (also called the "Soldier of the commune" he was also responsible, for applying orders and measures taken by the consul and, enforcing public order). The Community as a whole was concerned with the clocks proper functioning, as it had become indispensable, especially to the field workers.
La-cadiere - sommaire 11 - St-Andrew church 13 - Auguste Charlois streetAuguste Charlois street
Auguste Honoré Pierre Charlois was born on November 26, 1864 in La Cadière-d'Azur. After high school at the Institution of the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine in Marseille.
He entered the Nice observatory at the age of 16 to assist his first director Henri Perrotin, In 1882, he accompanied Louis Thollon to Avila Spain to observe the transit of Venus. He was given the search for what was then called the small planets, (asteroids). Between 1887 and 1904, Charlois discovered 99 new asteroids, including 27 by direct observation. This technique consisted of visually comparing stellar fields in order to detect the presence of moving stars. It required a great deal of observer experience and many hours of observation.
On the 17th of October 1892, the Observatory’s director, Perrotin, announced the discovery by Charlois of 3 new small planets, accompanied by 8 old.
These discoveries contributed greatly to the reputation of the Nice Observatory at its inception. The astronomer also made thousands of equatorial observations, calculated the orbital elements of 16 comets, a hundred asteroids, and measured 338 double stars.
The great merit of Auguste Charlois was recognized by the Paris Academy of Sciences, which awarded him the Valz Prize in 1889. A few years later, he received an award from Washington for having found the asteroid Andromaque discovered by James Watson. The Astronomical Society of France awarded him the Janssen Prize in 1899 for his work on small planets.
La-cadiere - sommaire 12 - The clock tower 14 - André Favory streetAndré Favory street
André Favory born in 1888 in Paris was a French painter and illustrator. He took classes at the Julian Académie where he met Jean Metzinger, André Lhote and Marie Laurencin. Favory painted in a Cubist style during the early years of his career and, began to exhibit his works in 1909. However, in 1914, he was mobilized, and left for the war.
When he exhibited again in 1919, the experience of the trenches had marked him deeply. His conception of art had evolved, he abandoned Cubism, which he criticized for its intellectualism, and began to take an interest in nude female portraits and models, represented as extravagant bathers with voluptuous and sensual proportions.
In 1922, he made many trips, especially to Belgium where he studied the work of Pierre Paul Rubens, it seems Rubens had a real influence on him.
He regularly exhibited in Paris and Brussels, in Salons such as the Salon des Artistes Indépendants, and the Salon des Tuileries, he was also a member of the Salon d'Automne. Moreover, in the 1920s, his works were exhibited in numerous galleries around the world (Paris, Brussels, London, Amsterdam, New York or Tokyo). Louis Vauxcelles, an influential critic of the time considered him as one of the masters of his generation. He died in 1937.
La-cadiere - sommaire 13 - Auguste Charlois street 15 - St-Côme chapelSt-Côme chapel
The terms Cathedra or Cadeira, are at the origin of the communes name found in very ancient documents, these suggest it being used as an episcopal base.
Since the fall of the Roman Empire, La Cadière depended not only on the Marseille bishopric, but also the all-powerful Abbey of St. Victor founded in Marseille in the fifth century by Jean Cassien. It was not until the eleventh century that they were dissociated.
This chapel is built on the remains of a Roman villa and is a good example of the architectural modesty of the buildings in Late Antiquity (late third century) later reborn around the year 1000 after 5 centuries of invasions.
The cut stones come from a vast Roman villa. The sanctuary consists of a square chevet and a long nave. A powerful stone structure separates the two volumes.
This nave is associated with an annex that housed 5 burials in the grounds dating from the late Middle Ages. Carbon 14 analysis reveals animal and human bones dating back to the 13th century. These tombs, raise questions not only because of the period but, by the questions of funerary rites, and, the presence of associated animals generally absent from the tombs of this time this, constitutes an exceptional discovery.
As for the nearby St John's chapel, a hermit was the caretaker. He lived in the original building of the neighbouring farm and performed his duties of monitoring and maintaining the premises at the expense of the community.
The current chapel measures 4,2m by 3m, in fact, it corresponds to the vaulted choir of the early church, the choir was closed around 1600 to form this very building.
In this choir, some liturgical items are still visible. Such as niches in the walls, to house missals, burettes or lamps. Restoration work began in 1979, and a new bell was installed in 2000. It was registered as an Historic Monument on April the 13th, 1981.
La-cadiere - sommaire 14 - André Favory street 16 - St-John fountainSt-John fountain
The fountain called Bonnefont, was listed as an Historical Monument on June the 10th, 1975, includes a reservoir located 4 meters deep, fed by an underground aqueduct that channels the waters from its source in the Defends district. It is one of the oldest in the department.
A recent restoration of the town was at the origin of an archaeological study. It is a backed fountain, a rather rare concept, which is in the form of a bowl and is organized around the central courtyard. Against the wall, to the east, were installed laundries. To the north, you can admire four beautiful masks (carved heads) dating from 1582, where water flows into a trough. They are probably the work of a local craftsman. The current fountain was designed by Georgi Carillon "a Master Water conductor" from Marseille.
It follows a proto-fountain found in the communal archives in 1480 under the name of "Fons St-Jean". During the seventeenth century, various types of maintenance were carried out such as, cleaning and sealing to prevent water loss, especially in 1648. This maintenance work was, for most of the time the responsibility of the inhabitants , this by intermediary of a special tax levied for this purpose.
La-cadiere - sommaire 15 - St-Côme chapel 17 - St-John ChapelSt-John Chapel
The chapel Ste-Jean dates from the second century AD with the establishment of Christianity in Provence. It spread quickly after the conversion of Emperor Constantine in 313.
Although It was built on a former pagan place of worship, the earliest records date it to the fourteenth century, a testament confirms it was surrounded by a cemetery. The small chapel in front of you is the result of many reconstructions. As for the other buildings, their restorations were constructed on its medieval base.
The side alcoves however existed from the very beginning, and are restorations from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The adjoining house was home to the hermits hired by the communities to watch over the building. and serving as gravediggers and for making wooden crosses for the dead.
