Marseille vs Lubeck

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Marseille ( mar-SAY, also spelled in English as Marseilles; French: [maʁsɛj] (listen), locally [maχˈsɛjə] (listen); Occitan: Marselha [maʀˈsejɔ, -ˈsijɔ]) is the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in France. It is located on the coast of the Gulf of Lion, part of the Mediterranean Sea, near the mouth of the Rhône. Marseille is the second largest city in France, covering an area of 241 km2 (93 sq mi) and had a population of 870,018 in 2016. Its metropolitan area, which extends over 3,174 km2 (1,225 sq mi) is the third-largest in France after those of Paris and Lyon, with a population of 1,760,653 as of 2017, or 3,100,329 (2019) by the broader Eurostat definition of metropolitan region. Its inhabitants are called Marseillais. One of Europe's oldest cities, founded around 600 BC and known to the ancient Greeks as Massalia (Greek: Μασσαλία, romanized: Massalía) and Romans as Massilia. Marseille has been a trading port since ancient times. In particular, it experienced a considerable commercial boom during the colonial period and especially during the 19th century, becoming a prosperous industrial and trading city. Nowadays the Old Port still lies at the heart of the city where the manufacturing of soap, its famous savon de Marseille, began some 6 centuries ago. Overlooking the port is the Basilica of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde or "Bonne-mère" for the people of Marseille, a Romano-Byzantine church and the symbol of the city.

Inherited from this past, the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille (GPMM) and the maritime economy are major poles of regional and national activity and Marseille remains the first French port, the second Mediterranean port and the fifth European port. Since its origins, Marseille's openness to the Mediterranean Sea has made it a cosmopolitan city marked by cultural and economic exchanges with Southern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. In Europe, the city has the third largest Jewish community after London and Paris.In the 1990s, the Euroméditerranée project for economic development and urban renewal was launched. New infrastructures and renovations were carried out in the 2000s and 2010: the tramway, the renovation of the Hôtel-Dieu into a luxury hotel, Le Silo, the expansion of the Velodrome stadium, the CMA CGM Tower, and other quayside museums such as the Museum of Civilisations of Europe and the Mediterranean (MuCEM). As a result, Marseille now has the most museums in France after Paris. The city was named European Capital of Culture in 2013 and European Capital of Sport in 2017. Additionally, Marseille hosted matches at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2016. It is also home to several higher education institutions in the region, including the University of Aix-Marseille.

Source: Wikipedia

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Lübeck ( LOO-bek, German: [ˈlyːbɛk] (listen); Low German also: Lübeek; Danish: Lybæk), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (German: Hansestadt Lübeck), is, with around 217,000 inhabitants, the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, after its capital of Kiel, and it is the 35th-largest city in Germany. The city lies in Holstein, northeast of Hamburg, on the mouth of the River Trave, which flows into the Bay of Lübeck in the borough of Travemünde, and on the Trave's tributary Wakenitz. The Elbe–Lübeck Canal, which connects the Baltic to the Elbe River at Lauenburg, also crosses the city. Lübeck is surrounded by the lakes of the Lauenburg Lakes Nature Park in the southeast, and the lakes of Wagria in the northwest. The city is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and is the southwesternmost city on the Baltic, as well as the closest point of access to the Baltic from Hamburg. The port of Lübeck is the second-largest German Baltic port after the port of Rostock. There is a regional airport in the southern borough of Blankensee.

The city lies in the Northern Low Saxon dialect area of Low German. Lübeck had once been founded as the Slavic village Liubice, and its name is of Slavic origin. The city is famous for having been the cradle and the de facto capital of the Hanseatic League. Its city centre is Germany's most extensive UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the city's symbol is the Holsten Gate, Lübeck's skyline is dominated by the seven towers of its five main churches St Mary's, Lübeck Cathedral, St Jacob's, St Peter's, and St Giles'. The cathedral, finished around 1230, was the first large brickwork church in the Baltic region. St Mary's, finished in 1351, served as model for the other Brick Gothic churches around the Baltic. It has the second-tallest two-steeples façade after Cologne Cathedral, which only surpassed it in 1880, the tallest brick vault, and is the second-tallest brickwork structure after St Martin's in Landshut. Travemünde is a famous seaside resort, and its Maritim high-rise serves as the second-tallest lighthouse in the world at 114 metres high. Lübeck is also known for Lübeck Marzipan.

Source: Wikipedia