A little history
Legend has it that the name “La Joliette” comes from Julius Caesar, who, during his rivalry with Pompey, set up camp in this area of Massilia. In reality, however, the district takes its name from a property built here under the Ancien Régime. Had it not been for the extension of the Vieux-Port, the “La Joliette” district would not be what it is today.
By the 1840s, maritime traffic had outgrown the Old Port, and the government ordered the construction of the Bassin de la Joliette, north of the Old Port. With the construction of the Digue du Large, the Joliette infrastructure was put to use in 1847. The basin was completed in 1853. The Frioul auxiliary port is enlarged. Port expansion continued with the construction of the Lazaret and Arenc basins, followed by the Bassin Napoléon in 1859. Later, to link the old and new harbors, Rue Impériale (now Rue de la République) was opened.
This was once Marseille’s economic lung, but the decline in industrial activity plunged the district into a long period of dormancy. Thanks to the Euroméditerrannée project launched in the 1990s, La Joliette has regained its former dynamism and become one of the region’s leading business districts.
