Aix-en-Provence

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Aix-en-Provence or simply Aix (Occitan: Ais de Provença, French: Aix-en-Provence, Latin: Aquae Sextiae) is a city of southern France, located in Provence (Occitania), in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône, 30 km north of Marseille. It has 143 404 inhabitants (2007).

Even if the neighbor city of Marseille is now the capital of Provence, Aix was for centuries the capital of the former County of Provence and, therefore, has kept the characteristics of an important, regional center until today: great universities attracting a huge population of students, an important juridic center with an appellate court, a lot of prestigious and ancient buildings of outstanding beauty, an attractive place for painters, writers and famous people, nice markets, a spa town and a reputed way of life.

Thanks to these functions, the city is nicknamed in Occitan l'Atenas dau Miegjorn “Athens of the South”.

In the nearby countryside, one can visit the famous Sainte-Victoire Mountain and the archeological site of Entremont.