A bit of history
L’Estaque is one of Marseille’s many treasures: one ofthose 111 villages with such a distinctive identity. You often hear locals proclaim their love for their neighbourhood with this phrase: “We’re Estaquians before we’re Marseillais!”
Its name comes fromtheProvençalword “Estaco”, which means: the mooring, the stake used to tie up a boat. We are first and foremost in a fishing village founded in the 12th century with no means of transport to the centre of Marseille other than a mule track. It was not until the end of the 19th century that this peaceful village underwent a dramatic transformation withthe establishment of tile works to the east and factories to the west. The clay deposits were of exceptional quality, and tiles from L’Estaque were even exported as far as Mexico!
Whole families came to work in L’Estaque, mainly from the Italian Piedmont and Spain. These communities helped to create new neighbourhoods such as Les Riaux to the west, but also contributed to the emergence of a new type of workers’ housing: the ‘courée’. Fishermen, labourers, but also people from Marseille’s city centre who built a few ‘folies’ (extravagant summer homes): in the 19th century, L’Estaque also became aholidayresort.
