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Cassis-Cliffs, vineyards and literature
The history of Cassis goes back a long way, with human occupation as early as 500 BC. Ever since the 19th century, this little port town has been a haven for artists, made famous by Provençal poet Frédéric Mistral, who set his work "Calendal" in Cassis.
Greeks, Romans, Barbarians… and artists. Cassis has an ancient and varied history. Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a fortified dwelling at the top of Baou Redon. This area was inhabited from 600 to 500 BC onwards by a people, the Ligurians, who lived from fishing, farming and hunting. The founding of Massilia (Marseilles) by the Phocians at the same time would hint at Greek presence in Cassis. Cassis became quite an active little town in the Roman era, thanks to its sheltered harbour.
The decline of the empire, however, led to more troubled times, as Barbarian invasions ravaged the Mediterranean for five long centuries. The terrified townsfolk took refuge from these sea-borne raiders in the hills, in the "castrum" which, by the 13th century, belonged to the Lords of Baux de Provence.
In the 15th century, the castle came into the hands of Counts of Provence, who were succeeded by the Bishops of Marseilles until the Revolution. By the Enlightenment era, however, the inhabitants were starting to emerge from the fortified walls and trading started up around the port. A cod-drying plant was founded, vineyards sprung up in the hills and stone-quarrying started to flourish. Stone extracted from the Cassis area had been quarried ever since Antiquity, and was later used for the docks in Alexandria and the base of New York's Statue of Liberty. It is an extremely strong limestone, with an orange hue, due to its iron oxide content. Its unusual colour made it very popular with sculptors. It was also used in the home, for kitchen sinks, swimming pools and decorative items. Wine growing took a greater role in the 20th century, with the quality of local produce being widely acknowledged. Cassis was one of the first three wine-growing areas in France to receive the distinction of an "AOC" classification.
Cassis wouldn't be Cassis, though, without its artists and famous names. In 1716, Abbé Barthélemy, a Cassis-born author, was the first scholar to correctly decipher a fragment of Phoenician script from a Maltese engraving. The mould was given as a present to Louis XVI, and is now in the Louvre. Abbé Barthélemy was also known for the work "Travels of Anacharsis the Younger in Greece", which was very popular when it came out in 1788. He was invited to join the Académie Française in 1789, but his career was cut short by the Revolution, when he lost his ecclesiastical privileges.
Cassis was a destination of choice for a 
number of turn-of-the-century writers, both French (Alphonse Daudet, André Gide, Paul Valéry) and English-speaking (Henry Miller, Virginia Woolf) literary names. Frédéric Mistral (1830-1914) was a particularly important figure. He discovered Cassis in 1861. His friend Frédéric Legré took him for a walk along the shepherds' trails up to Mount Gibal. The sumptuous landscapes inspired Mistral's Provençal-language book "Calendal". Its twelve songs tell of a Cassis-based anchovy fisherman named Calendal, who falls for the beautiful Estérelle, half-princess, half-fairy, a descendant of the illustrious Lords of Baux. Calendal wins the day, through cruel tests, and conquers his sweetheart's affections. The hero is commemorated with a statue in one of the town's squares. Painters have made the Bay of Cassis famous, with work capturing the effect of the sunlight on its hills. The 'Provençal School', including artists such as Derain, Signac, Dufy or Picabia, painted in Cassis in the 19th century. More recently, Rudolf Kundera, a Czech painter came to Cassis in 1939, settling and spending his days here until his death in 2005.
