Salon-de-Provence

France

Salon-de-Provence is a French commune located in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône , in the region Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur .

CountryFrance
RegionProvence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
DepartmentBouches-du-Rhône
CantonSalon-de-Provence-1 and 2
Government
 Mayor (2020–2026)Nicolas Isnard (LR)
Area170.3 km2 (27.1 sq mi)
Population (2017-01-01)45,528
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)

Economy 

Salon had 2,221 companies in 2004. The activities are mainly tertiary (88%). Industry, construction and agriculture account for 6%, 4% and 2% respectively.

A branch of the Marseille-Provence Chamber of Commerce and Industry is located in Salon.

Businesses and shops 

The town has 500 local facilities. The range of facilities is diversified in the city center.

Four business zones are located in the town: the business park of Gandonne, Crau, Roquassiers and soon Gabins.

Industries and Energy 

A hydroelectric power station using water from the Durance brought by the EDF canal has been established in the town since 1965.

Education

Salon-de-Provence is part of the Aix-Marseille academy . It also has an information and guidance center.

Educational institutions 

The municipality manages fifteen nursery schools. The town also has two private nursery schools under contract: La Presentation de Marie and Viala-Lacoste as well as fourteen elementary schools:

The departmental council of Bouches-du-Rhône manages the public colleges Jean-Bernard, Jean-Moulin and Joseph-d’Arbaud. The Presentation of Marie and Viala-Lacoste are private colleges .

The town has five high schools, managed by the regional council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur  :

  • Adam-de-Craponne high school (with professional section), public;
  • Lycée de l’Empéri, public;
  • Lycée Le Rocher (vocational section), private;
  • Saint-Jean high school, private;
  • Viala-Lacoste high school, private.

Specialized institutions

The city of Salon-de-Provence hosts, on air base 701 , the Air School . Its role is to train air force officers: pilots, mechanical engineers, base officers , air commissioners .

Salon-de-Provence Air Base

Lycée and the SAINT-JEAN training center offer initial and work-study training:

  • BTS accounting-management
  • BTS Operational Commercial Management (MCO, former MUC)
  • BTS Real Estate Professions

It is possible to do higher studies at the IUT of Aix-Marseille , which presents the following specialties:

  • DUT Electrical Engineering and Industrial Computing (GEII)
  • Electrical Engineering and Power Electronics (EEP)
  • License Integration of embedded systems in aeronautics (ISEA)
  • License Automated Systems and Industrial Networks (SARI)

Tourism, Culture and Heritage

Tourist activity is concentrated in summer and on certain spring “bridges”, for an economic weight representing 10 to 12% of the sedentary market. In 2007, tourism represented an annual turnover of around 100 million euros on the territory of the Agglopole Provence. Accommodation there totaled 6,000 beds.

The Tourist Office 

  • The Salon-de-Provence tourist office is an EPIC .
  • It organizes a (free) guided tour called Les Flâneries and also offers an Advantage Pass to discover the city at a lower cost.
  • The office has an official Patrouille de France (PAF) store .

Shows and festivities

Since 2014, new cultural and popular festivities punctuate the life of Salon-de-Provence, and have enriched the annual program. Among the main recurring events:

  • The Salon-de-Provence Cinematographic Meetings Festival (end of March / beginning of April): when spring arrives, they offer an escape to other horizons with a selection of more than 30 witness films from around the world and carriers talents too often overlooked in their own country. 
  • The Transhumance (end of April / beginning of May): relaunched in 2015, it celebrates the pastoral identity of the town through a parade of sheep on the courtyards of the city center, in the presence of Provencal folk groups.
  • Les Z’EXpressives (mid-May): since 1989 this festival has invited young people to express their talents in theater, dance, music, cinema, photography.
  • Renaissance celebrations
  • Reconstitution, and Nostradamiques.
  • Friday Nocturnes (July and August): every Friday in the summer, since 2015, fairgrounds and artists have taken over Cours Carnot and the historic center to welcome tourists as part of a night market, with various activities and musical.
  • Côté Cour theater festival (early July): each year, quality artists come to revisit classics, or even offer their creation, in the exceptional setting of the Château de l’Empéri.
  • SALON International festival of chamber music in Provence , formerly Musique à l’Empéri  (end of July / beginning of August): the best classical musicians in the world meet there every summer in the heart of the Château de l’Empéri.
  • The Lyric Art Festival (August): organized since 2004 by the Mezza Voce association in Salon-de-Provence.
  • The Liberation Day (August 22): every year, the Liberation Day pays tribute to the men who fought to restore Salon-de-Provence to its freedom. 
  • A Day with The Beatles (September): day of gathering around the Beatles, with the presence of several groups obviously taking up the repertoire of the famous English group.
  • Run your town (September): urban race.
  • The Laughter Festival (November): thanks to the organization of the Maison des jeunes et de la culture de Salon-de-Provence. The guest comedians demonstrate the full extent of their talents in mastering the French language.

Places and monuments 

Civil monuments

  • The castle Empéri , overlooking the old city, is the largest medieval castle in Provence xii th to the xiii th  century. It is still today one of the three largest fortified castles in Provence , with the palace of the popes of Avignon and the castle of Tarascon.
  • La Grande Fontaine, also called Fontaine Moussue . 
  • The door of the Clock . It was built on the old Farreiroux gate , a vestige of the ramparts, to replace the clock of the Saint-Michel church. The tower is crowned with a remarkable wrought iron campanile . 
  • The door of Bourg Neuf . Ramparts dating from the xii th  century surrounded the city, and several gates gave access to the city. 
  • At the north exit of Salon, the monumental Jean-Moulin memorial is the work of sculptor Marcel Courbier who is making his third monument dedicated to Jean Moulin there. 

The City of Salon-de-Provence has various cultural institutions on its territory:

  • The Musical Institute for Professional Training (IMFP): a jazz school which also offers concerts every Tuesday evening.
  • Cinemas in Salon: Le club and Les Arcades. Note that the first cinema is classified “Art house”.
  • The Coucou Portal – Café-Musiques – is an associative structure managed by the Oeuvre de la jeunesse laïque de Salon-de-Provence. It offers concerts (rock, pop, reggae…) all year round (except summer).
  • Armand Municipal Theater: plays, dance performances but also some concerts are visible on this stage. It is also a place of training, learning thanks to its school for children but also for adults.
Théâtre Municipal Armand, Salon-De-Provence, Concert hall

Museums 

  • Museum Salon and Crau this room Theodore Jourdan.
  • Musée de l’Empéri.
  • House of Nostradamus.
  • Marseille Soap Museum.

Soap factories

  • Marius Fabre soap factory .
  • Rampal-Latour soap factory.
  • Scham soap factory.
Marius Fabre store in Salon de Provence city center

Recreation

  • Les Flâneries: Guided tour (free) offered by the Salon-de-Provence tourist office
  • Center gliding Crau
  • Accro Passion: outdoor tree climbing course
  • Horse races at the Salon-de-Provence racecourse
  • Bike ride in the Crau Green: the plain of the Crau is bounded on the west by the Camargue , on the north by the Alpilles , south by the Mediterranean and southeast by the Etang de Berre .
  • The Tallagard massif offers four hiking or mountain biking trails: the Pastoral trail, the Caussiers trail, the Agassons trail and the Bee trail.
  • Route des Collines salonaises – the relief charm of the Massif des Costes . 
  • The Salon-de-Provence markets are organized on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (mornings only).
  • Miscellaneous Collective Reception of Minors (ACM): such as the Mosaïque center, the OJS and the PST Animation Loisirs

Agriculture and local products 

  • The Salonaise countryside

A few minutes from the city center, the Tallagard massif offers four hiking trails (on foot or by mountain bike) in a typical Provencal countryside. Aleppo pine forest, oaks, olive trees, scrubland, broom… wild thyme and rosemary will perfume your sports or family walks. Each trail has its surprises: dry stone huts or bories , bancau , mule, oratory, sheep, and a viewpoint at the top of the hill with a view of the Alpilles , the Luberon , the plain la Crau , the pond of Berre to the Mediterranean. Tables allow you to picnic.

  • Viticulture

Salon-de-Provence is a wine-growing municipality located in the geographical areas of the Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence AOC, the Mediterranean IGP and the Bouches-du-Rhône IGP .

Salon-de-Provence
101220

Contact

Salon-de-Provence town hall
email
address
174 Place de l'Hotel de Ville. BP 120. 13300 Salon-de-Provence
phone
04 90 44 89 00