La Belle de Mai

The 3rd district of Marseille has four official districts, but the best renown is certainly Belle de Mai. The borough has long sheltered workers, mostly of Italian origin, who worked in Marseille manufactures and industries that have chosen to settle in the Belle de Mai.There was the Saint-Charles refinery of sugar, right next to the imposing Tobacco Factory of France. In the premises of this important industry, 1,000 workers were engaged in the production of Gauloises and Gypsies, the most popular cigarette brands among French people in the 1950s.Towards the end of the 1980s, the factory faced difficulties and reduced the number of employees below 250 before deciding its definitive closure in 1990. The whole district was impacted by this event. It was a hard hit for Belle de Mai, but it rose again few years later and became a renowned place of art and culture.Being one of the beneficiary districts of the Euroméditerranean urban renewal project, the neighborhood is considerably enhanced in a decade. Thus, in 1992, the project of the Friche Belle de Mai was born. It consists of transforming the old tobacco factory into a high place of culture. The premises have been divided into a patrimonial and institutional center on one side and a multimedia center, on the other.Part of the premises are therefore occupied by municipal archives, the Marseille museum reserve and the heritage conservation and restoration center. The other part, reserved for multimedia, houses audiovisual industries, television studio, radio stations, shooting locations, etc. The television show Plus Belle la Vie is shot here. A large part of the actors and members of the production team live in Marseille.Like the Friche which offered itself a new life, the district of Belle de mai also went through a small facelift. Landscape artists created gardens, a cinema room, the Gyptis, opened its doors in the heart of the district, children's playgrounds were created as well as urban sports areas such as the skate park. All this is complemented by bookshops, concert halls, shops and boutiques, etc.