Editing Aix-en-Provence (section)

==Sights==
[[File:Narrow streets of Aix en Provence 2.jpg|thumb|right|The narrow streets of Aix]]

[[File:Aix- café des deux garçons.jpg|thumb|left|''Les Deux Garçons'']]
[[File:Aix - cloître St Sauveur.JPG|thumb|left|The Cathedral Cloisters]]
The [[Cours Mirabeau]] is a wide thoroughfare, planted with double rows of [[Platanus|plane trees]], bordered by fine houses and decorated by fountains. It follows the line of the old city wall, and divides the town into two sections. The new town extends to the south and west; the old town, with its narrow, irregular streets, and its old mansions dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, lies to the north. Situated on this avenue, which is lined on one side with banks and on the other with cafés, is the Deux Garçons, the most famous [[brasserie]] in Aix. Built in 1792, it was frequented by the likes of [[Paul Cézanne]], [[Émile Zola]] and [[Ernest Hemingway]].<ref>{{Cite book|first=Claude-Alain|last=Sarre|title=Les Deux Garçons. Quatre Siècles d'Histoire au Coeur d'Aix-en-Provence.|year=2007|publisher=Université Aix|isbn=978-2-903449-92-6}}</ref> On 3 November 2019, Les Deux Garçons was devastated by a fire that engulfed the entire building, leaving the much loved establishment just a shell.<ref>{{cite news |title=Aix : les "2G" totalement détruits par un incendie |url=http://www.laprovence.com/article/faits-divers-justice/5785368/aix-les-2g-totalement-detruits-par-un-incendie.html |access-date=5 March 2020 |agency=La Provence}}</ref>

The Cathedral of the Holy Saviour ([[Aix Cathedral]]) is situated to the north in the [[medieval]] part of Aix. Built on the site of a former [[forum (Roman)|Roman forum]] and an adjacent basilica, it contains a mixture of all styles from the 5th to the 17th century, including a richly decorated portal in the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic style]] with doors elaborately carved in [[walnut]]. The interior contains 16th-century tapestries, a 15th-century [[triptych]] depicting [[René I of Naples|King René]] and his wife on the side panels, as well as a [[Merovingian]] [[baptistery]], its [[Renaissance]] dome supported by original Roman columns. The archbishop's palace (Palais de l'Archêveché) and a [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] [[cloister]] adjoin the cathedral on its south side.<ref>Michelin Guide to Provence, {{ISBN|2-06-137503-0}}, pages 67–68.</ref> The [[Archbishopric]] of Aix is now shared with [[Arles]].

[[File:Hoteldeville-aix.JPG|thumb|Place de l'Hôtel de Ville with the [[Hôtel de Ville, Aix-en-Provence|Hôtel de Ville]] on the right]]
[[File:L'Eglise St-Jean de Malte - Place St Jean de Malte - Aix-en-Provence.jpg|thumb|Saint-Jean-de-Malte]]
Among its other public institutions, Aix also has the second most important [[Court of Appeal (France)|Appeal Court]] (Palais de Justice) outside of Paris, located near the site of the former Palace of the Counts (Palais des Comtes) of [[Provence]].

The [[Hôtel de Ville, Aix-en-Provence|Hôtel de Ville]] (town hall), a building in the classical style of the middle of the 17th century, looks onto a picturesque square (Place de l'Hôtel de Ville). It contains some fine woodwork and tapestries. At its side rises a handsome clock-tower, erected in 1510.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aixenprovencetourism.com/aix-vieilleville.htm |title=Tourist office: Old Aix |publisher=Aixenprovencetourism.com |access-date=15 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217045112/http://www.aixenprovencetourism.com/aix-vieilleville.htm |archive-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Also on the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville is the former [[Corn exchange|Corn Exchange]] (1759–1761) (Halle de Grains). This ornately decorated 18th-century building was designed by the Vallon brothers. Nearby are the remarkable [[Hot spring|thermal springs]], containing lime and [[carbonic acid]], that first drew the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] to Aix and gave it the name ''Aquae Sextiae''. A [[spa]] was built in 1705 near the remains of the [[Ancient Rome|ancient Roman]] [[Thermae|baths]] of [[Sextius Calvinus|Sextius]].<ref>[[Encyclopædia Britannica]], 1911.</ref>

South of the Cours Mirabeau is the [[Quartier Mazarin]]. This residential district was constructed for the gentry of Aix by [[Archbishop of Aix-en-Provence|Archbishop]] [[Michele Mazzarino]] brother of [[Cardinal Mazarin|Cardinal Jules Mazarin]] in the last half of the 17th century and contains several notable [[Hôtel particulier|''hôtels particuliers'']]. The 13th-century [[church of Saint-Jean-de-Malte]] contains valuable pictures and a recently restored organ. Next to it is the Musée Granet, devoted to European painting and sculpture.

Aix is often referred to as the city of a thousand fountains.<ref>Laurence Labrouche, "Ariane Mnouchkine: un parcours théâtral: le terrassier, l'enfant et le voyageur", L'Harmattan (1999), {{ISBN|2-7384-8022-5}}, page 66, "la ville aux mille fontaines"</ref> Among the most notable are the 17th-century Fontaine des Quatre Dauphins (Fountain of the Four Dolphins) in the Quartier Mazarin, designed by Jean-Claude Rambot,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Provence |series=Michelin Green Guide |year=1999 |publisher=Michelin |isbn=0-320-03732-0}}, page 69. The fountain was built in 1667,</ref> and three of the fountains down the central Cours Mirabeau: at the top, a 19th-century fountain depicts the "good king" [[René I of Naples|René]] holding the [[Muscat (grape and wine)|Muscat grapes]] that he introduced to [[Provence]] in the 15th century; halfway down is a natural hot water fountain (34&nbsp;°C), covered in moss, dating back to the Romans; and at the bottom, at la Rotonde, the hub of modern Aix, stands a monumental fountain from 1860 beneath three giant statues representing art, justice and agriculture. In the older part of Aix, there are also fountains of note in the Place d'Albertas and the Place des Trois-Ormeaux.

Aix is the birthplace of Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne. A walking trail links sites including his childhood home, Jas de Bouffan, and his former studio, Atelier Cézanne. The white limestone mountain Sainte-Victoire overlooks the city and was a frequent subject of Cézanne's works.