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An important opera festival, the 'Festival international d'Art Lyrique' founded in 1948 which now ranks with those in Bayreuth, Salzburg and Glyndebourne. The current director is Bernard Foccroulle, director of la Monnaie in Brussels. The festival takes place in late June and July each year. The main venues in Aix itself are the outdoor Théâtre de l'Archévêché in the former garden of the archbishop's palace, the recently restored 18th century Théâtre du Jeu de Paume, and the newly built Grand Théâtre de Provence; operas are also staged in the outdoor Théâtre du Grand Saint-Jean outside Aix. Linked to the festival is the Académie européenne de musique, a summer school for young musicians with master classes by celebrated artists. Over the four year period from 2006 until 2009, Sir Simon Rattle's version of Wagner's Ring Cycle with the Berlin Philharmonic is being premiered at the Aix festival.
The church of Saint-Jean-de-Malte, built in the 13th Century on older predecessor, is the oldest Gothic church in Provence, and thus one of the most interesting sights of the city. Their first written mention goes to the year 1235 back, 15 years before its consecration. The transept is slightly younger.
It was originally the Church of St. John in Malta beheimateten Order (hence the name) and served as a hospital church. The corresponding hospital was located on the site of today's Musee Granet. Of the 67-meter-high bell tower of the church is the highest point of the city and visible from far away. The interior of the church surprised by its brightness, because the light is very bright through the walls of the church even greater.
See value in addition to the contemporary organ and the windows and some paintings. Below you will find the "crucifixion" of Delacroix the greatest attention.
Since 1978, the church houses a community apostolic monks, directly under the bishop are. It serves as a parish church.
Aix-en-Provence is situated in a plain overlooking the Arc, about a mile from the right bank of the river.
Aix (Aquae Sextiae) was founded in 123 BC by the Roman consul Sextius Calvinus, who gave his name to its springs. In 102 BC its neighbourhood was the scene of the Battle of Aquae Sextiae when Romans under Gaius Marius defeated the Cimbri and Teutones, with mass suicides among the captured women, which passed into Roman legends of Germanic heroism.
In the 4th century AD it became the metropolis of Narbonensis Secunda. It was occupied by the Visigoths in 477. In the succeeding century, the town was repeatedly plundered by the Franks and Lombards, and was occupied by the Saracens in 731 and by Charles Martel in 737. Aix, which during the Middle Ages was the capital of the county of Provence, did not reach its zenith until after the 12th century, when, under the houses of Aragon and Anjou, it became an artistic centre and seat of learning.
Aix passed to the crown of France with the rest of Provence in 1487, and in 1501 Louis XII established there the parliament of Provence, which existed until 1789. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the town was the seat of the Intendance of Provence.
Current archeological excavations in the Ville des Tours, a medieval suburb of Aix, have unearthed the remains of a roman amphitheatre.
Aix or Aix-en-Provence (Provençal Occitan: Ais de Provença in classical norm or Ais de Prouvènço in Mistralian norm), to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city in southern France, some 30 km north of Marseille. It is located in the Provence region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône département, of which it is a sous-préfecture. The population of Aix is approximately 140,200.Its inhabitants are called Aixois.
