Gignac La Nerthe

Population : 9,264

Department : Bouches du Rhône

Gignac La Nerthe is situated between the N368 and the A55 motorway, near Marignane and the Estaque range but it can by no means be said to be a major tourist destination…

Originally mainly involved in agriculture, the families of Gignac La Nerthe now mostly tend to work elsewhere - in Marignane, Marseilles, Martigues or Aix. Gignac has developed very quickly over the last two decades, in parallel with the burgeoning economic activity in the commercial and industrial areas along the Marseilles-Vitrolles-Marignane axis.

In the centre of Gignac you can walk along several little narrow streets until you come to the church with its restored façade and lovely belltower. Around the church there are several rows of old cottages.

Gignac comprises several different quartiers, some of them neater and more elegant than others. With carefully tended roundabouts, flower-lined avenues and new buildings, some parts of Gignac resemble a new town, while other parts are more like a dormitory town with rather charmless housing estates.