About this place
Just behind the south quay, the Place aux Huiles, the Square of Oils, hides a watery past beneath its café terraces. It was built over the old Canal de la Douane, the customs canal, up which barrels of oil, above all olive oil, were shipped in and rolled ashore to supply the city's celebrated soap factories, whose genuine savon de Marseille must still contain at least seventy two percent pure oil. The canal was filled in during the late 1920s, and at the end of the 1980s the architect Charles Bové redesigned the square, taking his inspiration from Rome's Piazza Navona. Today it is the heart of the Carré Thiars dining quarter, a grid of lively streets steps from the Opéra, where Marseillais gather in the evening to eat fresh fish beneath the warm stone facades.
Key facts
- 1929 year — The old customs canal beneath the square was finally filled in
- 1989 year — Architect Charles Bové redesigned the square after Rome's Piazza Navona
- 72 percent — The minimum pure oil content stamped on every genuine savon de Marseille
📍 Place aux Huiles 17, 13001, Marseille