Old Port of Marseille

The Old Port of Marseille is defined by the deep, natural limestone cove that slices into the heart of the city, now occupied by a dense forest of leisure boat masts. This harbor has served as the city's maritime center since six hundred BC, when Phocaean Greeks established a trading post on the northern shore. Local legend holds that the settlement began when a Greek sailor named Protis married a Celtic princess named Gyptis, who offered him a cup of water to seal their union and granted him this land as a dowry.