Noailles Market and Place des Capucins

Why is it significant?

Step into the aromatic whirlwind of Place du Marché des Capucins, the bustling heart of the Noailles neighborhood affectionately nicknamed the belly of Marseille.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Step into the aromatic whirlwind of Place du Marché des Capucins, the bustling heart of the Noailles neighborhood affectionately nicknamed the belly of Marseille. Established on the grounds of an ancient Capuchin monastery founded in 1579 under King Henry III, this daily open-air food market has sustained exceptional culinary vitality since the nineteenth century. Wooden stalls overflow with fresh mint, cilantro, bright pomegranates, marinated olives, and tall pyramids of turmeric, ras-el-hanout, and fiery sumac imported from North Africa, the Levant, and the Comoros. Narrow adjoining streets like Rue d'Aubagne shelter venerable commercial landmarks, including Maison Empereur, established in 1827 as the oldest operating hardware store in France, and historic herbalists dispensing traditional dried remedies and Provençal teas. Shouts of fruit vendors blend with the warm fragrance of flatbread baking in stone ovens, spicy merguez sausages, and freshly fried chickpea panisses. Here, professional chefs hunting rare spices rub shoulders with neighborhood families in an exuberant celebration of Mediterranean gastronomy. This welcoming melting pot captures the cosmopolitan generosity of Marseille, connecting culinary traditions across ancient sea routes. Friendly stallholders eagerly share cooking advice with curious passersby. The sensory kaleidoscope of sights, sounds, and aromas provides an unforgettable immersion into authentic neighborhood life.

Inhale deeply along Rue Longue-des-Capucins: dozens of varieties of exotic cooking spices, frankincense, and loose tea leaves are sold by weight from large burlap sacks.

In the seventeenth century, the Capuchin monastery sheltered a royal woolen cloth factory and military hospital before being sold during the French Revolution in 1791.

Maison Empereur preserves in its vaulted basements original nineteenth-century account ledgers recorded in quill ink on antique vellum paper.

Walk north up Rue du Musée to return to La Canebière and pause before the historic facade of the Théâtre de l'Odéon.