Still a Southern town with a unique identity! Nestling by the water between the Etang de Berre and the Mediterranean, it is surprising for its old districts separated by wide canals. Known as the Provençal Venice, Martigues is above all a people’s town with industrial and marine traditions.

Jonquières, Ile Brescon, Ferrières. The three are the soul of Martigues. Closer to the working atmosphere of Languedocian Sète than that of Venice, the three districts that “make” the town are a delight to walk round. On the south side, in Jonquières, you’ll find the commercial area, a succession of shops, bars, terraces and restaurants, best seen on a Saturday. On the north side, in Ferrières, a few streets with popular housing, a second nucleus of shops and businesses and the lovely Ziem museum of painting, named after the impressionist Félix Ziem, a citizen of Martigues by adoption. But it is in the centre, on Ile Brescon, that the walker should really take notice.

Cut in two by the Saint-Sébastien canal, the district offers superb houses with colourful, flower-filled facades, overlooking fishing boats and yachts carefully moored on the quaysides. A village atmosphere, enhanced by the pretty Corinthian-style facade and festive decoration of the Sainte-Madeleine-de-l’Île Church.

The canals are what bind the town together. You can see a few merchant ships passing through, linking the sea to the industrial activities of the Etang de Berre. Fishing boats too, a reminder of an ancient tradition, “poutargue”, a dried fish terrine made with mullet roes, that two or three artisans still fish for today. And lastly, the jousting boats that confront each other at festivals and competitions.

Martigues, a colourful lakeside town, to be enjoyed between water and sky.