The historic Mazarin neighbourhood in Aix-en-Provence

A prestigious address just next to Cours Mirabeau in the centre of Aix-en-Provence, the Mazarin neighbourhood offers the quintessence of Aix’s historic architectural style, impeccably preserved. Several period films have, in fact been shot here.

Featuring a classic geometric layout (like a chequerboard), the Mazarin neighbourhood was built in the 17th century on the initiative of Archbishop Mazarin, the Cardinal’s brother. Crossed by Rue d’Italie (the oldest street in Aix-en-Provence) and laid out around Rue Cardinale and Rue du 4 Septembre, it boasted elegant private mansions, family residences and homes of the local upper middle class. Today, the neighbourhood’s former glory can still be seen in the majesty of its historic façades, and its prestigious monuments and institutions such as the Fontaine des 4 Dauphins, Église Saint-Jean de Malte in Provençal Gothic style, the Granet Museum and the sumptuous Hôtel de Caumont, now the home of the Conservatoire de Musique. All along Rue Mazarine and Rue Cardinale, architectural marvels unfurl, allowing one to imagine the “vie de salon” of the era (cultivated drawing-room social life). Hotels, trendy boutiques and restaurants now rub shoulders with antique shops and art galleries. This commercial liveliness has breathed new life into this residential neighbourhood, sometimes to the detriment of the quiet life enjoyed some residents, not at all keen on plans to turn it onto a pedestrian area.

Private mansions and elegant old apartments are the main types of properties to be found in the Mazarin neighbourhood. “The clientele for these prestigious properties is comp­rised of Parisians planning ultimately to live year-round in Aix-en-Provence, international buyers, and also local families who sell their homes in the country to move back to the town centre,” explains Nicolas Ginon, director of the Garcin agency in Aix-en-Provence. Clients are, however, faced by very scarce offerings, especially as properties here tend to stay in the same hands for at least 20 years. “There has been a slight decline in the prices of bourgeois apartments. They are pegged at about 6,000 € per sq. metre as compared to 7,000 € in 2010/2012.” By way of example, our expert mentions an apartment of 200 m2 on the second floor of a mansion on Rue Cardinale, up for sale at 1,200,000 €, and another of 300 m2, recently renovated, on offer at just over 2 million euros. “On average, this kind of property finds a taker within 6 to 9 months.”

“Mansions which have not been split into apartments are virtually non-existent on today’s market. Most of them now consist of a few fine bourgeois apartments which have retained noble old features and are very large,” says Pascal Boyer of Pelletier et Savon, a property management firm handling numerous buildings and mansions in the Mazarin neighbourhood. “You can also find more classic apartments in bourgeois buildings, properties under the eaves with sloping ceilings, and converted old attics.” He mentions a select apartment of 90 m2 benefiting from a terrace in a bourgeois building, priced at 565,000 €. “Depending on the property’s type and cond­ition, prices per sq. metre range from 4,000 € for classic examples requiring renov­ation, to 8,000 € for exceptional homes.” As exemplified by a sumptuous apartment of 200 m2 in a magnificent town mansion, on offer at 1,250,000 €, properties of real character generate “love at first sight” among clients with esthetic taste and fans of historic residences, though they occasionally hesitate due to the lack of elev­ators and parking facilities. “Clients are there, but they are not always prepared to make all the concessions imposed by this iconic neighbourhood.”

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