Salon-de-Provence

▪ France

      town, Bouches-du-Rhône département, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) région, southeastern France, northwest of Marseille. Founded in pre-Roman times as the oppidum (fortified town) of Le Salounet on a hill in the Val de Cuech, Salon achieved importance in the Middle Ages as a centre of the olive oil trade. It was the home of the 16th-century astrologer Nostradamus, whose house is preserved and whose tomb is in the 14th-century Collégiale Saint-Laurent. Other monuments are the fortified Château de l'Empéri (12th–13th centuries), a former residence of the archbishops of Arles; the 12th-century Romanesque church of Saint-Michel; and the 1630 clock tower.

      Salon is a centre for the processing and distribution of agricultural products (fruits and vegetables) from the surrounding area. Some of its industrial activities have merged with those of Marseille. Pop. (1999) 37,129; (2005 est.) 39,900.

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