Trois-Lucs district, Marseille

Les Trois-Lucs in Marseille

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The Trois-Lucs neighbourhood, situated in Marseille’s 12th arrondissement, occupies a strategic location that gives it an important role. It has been attributed various meanings over the years.

A neighbourhood next to Allauch 

Situated at the easternmost edge of the city, the Trois-Lucs neighbourhood is part of Marseille’s 12th arrondissement. It is surrounded by the neighbourhoods of Caillols, Olives and La Valentine, and by the commune of Allauch. It lies atthe eastern end of the Beaumont plateau, linking the city of Marseille to the Garlaban massif. The Trois-Lucs crossroads is a historic thoroughfare situated at a pass between the Jarret Valley to the north and the Huveaune Valley to the south. The pétanque court next to the crossroads is, in fact, one of the neighbourhood’s most characteristic landmarks. 

The name of the neighbourhood has evolved over the centuries: Tras Lucs, Tres Lus, Treillux… Its meaning has also varied. According to Alfred Saurel, a French writer and historian, it refers to three sources of light at the heart of the watchtowers that surrounded the city of Marseille. The designers of the stained-glass windows at Sainte-Rita Church also adopted this interpretation. For Father Soragi, the word ‘trelus’ means‘east’in the sense of radiance, but can also evoke the sunrise, a theme explored in Maurel’s pastoral work. According to Albert Dauzat, a French linguist, the origin of the very common place name ‘Luc’ lies in the Latin word ‘lucus’, which refers to a wooded area. The Trois-Lucs neighbourhood is indeed surrounded by extensive woodland.  

Since 1914, a tram line has served the Trois-Lucs district in Marseille, an area then renowned for its open-air cafés, dance halls and boules courts, which attracted crowds of city-dwellers, mainly at weekends. The Monnard Caves, discovered in 1848, provided the water supply for the Brasserie Phénix ( now part of the Heineken Group) until 1970. The brewer still owns the property today, despite the town council’s attempt in 1993 to transfer the caves to the public domain. To the south of the neighbourhood lies the Commanderie, the training ground ofOlympique de Marseille, the city’s iconic football club.  

Trois-Lucs district, Marseille

Famous people from the Trois-Lucs neighbourhood

Fernandel 

Fernand Joseph Contandin, better known as Fernandel, was an actor, comedian, singer and film director from Marseille. Famous for his song “Félicie aussi”, on 4 April 1935 he purchased the villa Les Mille Roses on Avenue des Trois-Lucs in Marseille to mark the tenth anniversary of his marriage to his wife, Henriette Manse. Following his death, this main thoroughfare in the neighbourhood was renamed Avenue Fernandel in his honour.  

Marie Deluil-Martiny  

Born in Marseille in 1841, Marie Deluil-Martiny was a prominent nun in the city who was recognised as Blessed by the Catholic Church. She founded the Daughters of the Heart of Jesus andthe Association of the Honour Guard of the Sacred Heart, now known as the Association of the Presence of Christ, whose aim was to find people to pray day and night in turn before the Blessed Sacrament. On 27 February 1884, she was murdered by an anarchist in the garden of the Servianne monastery, a place she herself had founded in the Trois-Lucs district of Marseille. In 1989, Pope John Paul II beatified her at St Peter’s in Rome.   

Church of Sainte Rita des trois Lucs

St Rita’s Church 

Located at 366 Avenue des Poilus, the Church of Sainte-Rita is one of the most significant landmarks in the Trois-Lucs neighbourhood. During the 20th century, the neighbourhood began to develop, raising the question of establishing a place of worship. The Camau-Parenque family then donated a plot of land on the condition that the chapel be dedicated to Saint Rita, the patron saint of hopeless causes and lost objects.Father Jean-Baptiste Gandolfi oversaw its construction, using simple bricks. It was consecrated in 1932 by Monsignor Dubourg, Bishop of Marseille. In the years that followed, the chapel was transformed and embellished, gradually becoming first a parish and then a church. The blessing of the foundation stone took place in 1955, performed by Monsignor Delay, and the inauguration followed a year later. The Trinity is strongly symbolised within the church. At the entrance, three stained-glass windows depict the Three Lights, which, through a play on words, gave the neighbourhood its name, Les Trois-Lucs.  

How do I get to the Trois-Lucs neighbourhood?

To get to the Trois-Lucs neighbourhood in Marseille, you can take bus routes 4 ( La Rose Metro station – La Valentine Shopping Centre), 4B (La Rose Metro Station – Les 3 Lucs), 7 (Foch 5 Avenues – Les 3 Lucs Enco de Botte) and 7T (Foch 5 Avenues – Allauch Barbaraou).  

By metro, from Saint-Charles station, you can take line M1 to the La Rose terminus and continue by bus or taxi to the Trois-Lucs district in Marseille.  

By car from the north, follow the A51, A7 and A507 motorways, then take exit 4 towards Saint-Barnabé and Saint-Julien, and follow the signs to your destination.