Armenians in Marseille
Marseille is the gateway for Armenians in France. Tens of thousands of genocide survivors arrived through its port in the 1920s.
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The survivors’ port
In November 1922, the liner Tourville landed the first 400 Armenian refugees in Marseille. According to France’s National Museum of Immigration History, about 58,000 Armenian refugees arrived through Marseille between 1922 and 1924.
Many were housed in Camp Oddo, in the northern districts: 5,541 refugees were registered there between 1922 and 1927. From May 1924, stateless Armenians could obtain the Nansen passport.
The refugees quickly built churches. The first, Saint Garabed, was consecrated on 23 December 1928. The Cathedral of the Holy Translators on avenue du Prado, whose foundation stone was laid in February 1928, was consecrated on 25 October 1931 by Bishop Grigoris Balakian. Its architect was Aram Tahtadjian and its main benefactor Vahan Khorassandjian.
Landmarks
- Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Translators, 339 avenue du Prado (1931).
- Saint Garabed church, the first Armenian church in Marseille (1928).
- The Armenian diocese has several other parishes in the city.
Further reading
Our stories about this city
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