|
The City of Marseille’s International Council |
|
|
Marseille has confirmed its vocation for international openness and exchanges for nearly 3 millennia now! As early as the arrival of the first sailors who chose this rocky inlet that was sheltered from the wind so that they could set sail again better equipped for distant shores, Marseille was a prosperous trading post where Greek oil, bronze and terracotta were exchanged peacefully under the Mediterranean sun.
The gateway to Europe for the East, Massalia rapidly became a gateway to the East for the North. A thoroughfare for people from all regions looking for adventure and trade, Marseille was also the crossroads of the main spiritual currents that have marked our history.
Today, Marseille is a home port of port of passage, a city that has known how to open its arms to those fleeing persecution or poverty, a city within which Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims and atheists can find one another and respect one another, a city that is exuberant and generous, but affective and discreet, deep because it knows how to look beyond appearances.
Thanks to a dynamic and ambitious city council, the city is being transformed and revamped, building and inventing the roads of the future. Its policy, which has made the development of international relations one of its priorities, resulted in the creation of the “International City Council” in a town council ruling dated March 2002.
The City of Marseille’s International Council was officially inaugurated by the Mayor of Marseille on December 2, 2002 at the Marseille town hall, in the presence of the French minister of foreign affairs and his secretary of state, the Algerian, Moroccan, Ivory Coast, French ambassadors in charge of applying the Barcelona Process, the regional prefect, elected representatives, consuls and all the members of civil society.
|
