Plage des Catalans

The Plage des Catalans reveals itself as a crescent of sand tucked tightly beneath the steep limestone cliffs of the Le Pharo district. In the nineteenth century, this shoreline housed a fishing village settled by migrants from Catalonia. These fishermen lived apart from the rest of Marseille, maintaining their own customs and dialect until the city grew around them. Today, the sand remains a rare pocket of public beach directly accessible from the heart of the city, framed by the tall, aging apartment buildings above.