Place des moulins

Place des Moulins sits atop the highest point in the historic Panier district, marked by its unusually quiet, wide square that feels detached from the busy streets below. During the sixteenth century, fifteen windmills crowded this ridge to catch the Mediterranean winds blowing off the harbor. The miller Jean-Baptiste Giraud once famously sued his neighbor for blocking his breeze with a new building, a legal battle that dragged on for years while the flour supply to the city stalled.