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La Ciotat-Standing the test of time
La Ciotat has been inhabited since the Neolithic age, around 3000 BC, but grew to become a significant port, whose heyday was in the 17th century, when fishing, shipbuilding and trading flourished. Strict policies protected the city from the plague in 1720. La Ciotat is today a pretty, colourful port to drop anchor, with a rich cultural heritage.
The first inhabitants of La Ciotat lived there in the second half of the third millennium BC. Archaeologists have unearthed in Ellianac fragments of pottery, flint tools and burial sites. These tribes lived from fishing, hunting and gathering, but also arable and livestock farming.
Greek sailors founded a trading post around 600 BC, contemporary to Marseilles, and a town started to grow up. Fishing and trading links meant that La Ciotat flourished for a number of centuries. Archaeological remains from this period, such as Greek amphorae, are on display in La Ciotat's museum. Under the Romans, the town became known as Citharistas Portus, but after the fall of the Roman empire, Lombard, Norman and Saracen invasions put an end to its prosperity. As in all the coastal towns, the inhabitants fled to the hills, to a fortified village called Ceyreste, until the raids quietened down in the 13th century.
Life then started to return to normal, and fishermen came back down towards the shores, rebuilding on the ancient site. A watch post was created by the people of La Ciotat and Ceyreste, on a hill that came to be known as 'La Garde', before relations deteriorated between the two communities. The good folk of Ceyreste claimed they were too far from the watch post, and that it was right next to La Ciotat. The seasiders retorted that their neighbours weren't pulling their weight in terms of look-out shifts… it was an age-old story of village rivalry. The two sites went their separate ways in 1429. The new name taken by the waterside dwelling was Civitas ('city' in Latin), which gradually evolved into Cieutat and finally Ciotat.
The town started to grow and widen the scope of its economic activities, pushing out beyond its walls by the 16th century. Unquestionably, though, La Ciotat's golden age was the 17th century. Townsfolk started to switch from fishing to a life of seafaring trades people. They generated significant wealth through the corn trade with the Middle East. A rich ship-owning middle class started to emerge, and La Ciotat's church was built, streets were repaved, shipyards were founded and the Saint-Jacques hospital rebuilt. As the town grew, La Ciotat's heyday came in 1633, when its merchant fleet was bigger even than Marseilles' fleet. A shipping map from 1664 shows La Ciotat as one of the 'big ports' between Marseilles and Toulon.
As this trading business declined in the late 17th century, the town experienced a similar decline. However, it managed to successfully protect itself from the plague that swept through Provence in 1720, and not one single townsperson succumbed. Whilst the population of Marseilles was slashed in two, with devastated effects for its economy, La Ciotat was the only town spared, thanks to the courage and good management of its citizens. They closed and guarded the city gates and vigorously prevented any strangers, particularly Marseilles troops, from entering. The port became a big grain store, which saved the region from famine. This episode is commemorated every November with a two-day festival. The 19th century saw the rise of La Ciotat's shipyards, bringing wealth into the town. They finally closed in 1980 (see article). La Ciotat's economy is now chiefly fuelled by tourism and yachting. There are plenty of things to discover - so if bad weather forces you to stay a day or two extra, you won't be disappointed.
