République Libre du Frioul (Marseilles, France)

Last modified: 2005-02-26 by ivan sache
Keywords: marseilles | republique libre du frioul | cross (blue) | sun: 16 rays |
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by Ivan Sache

• Presentation of the République Libre du Frioul
• Flag of the République Libre du Frioul
• Other symbols of the République Libre du Frioul

See also:

• France
• Marseilles
• Marseilles: Index of all related pages

Presentation of the République Libre du Frioul

The République Libre du Frioul is a strange entity: the flag is really flown, the name of the entity is patented, the place exists but the entity has no borders... It is not a commercial entity like Seborga but a cultural / artistic project.

The archipelago of Frioul is located off Marseilles (twenty minutes by boat). It is made of the three islands of If, Pomègues and Ratonneau, which were split from mainland during the so-called Flandrian transgression.
The smallest island, If, is famous for its fortress, popularized by Alexandre Dumas in his novel Le Comte de Monte-Cristo.
Pomègues and Ratonneau were in the past covered with forests and Louis XIV used them as a royal game preserve. The two islands are linked by a dam built in the early XIXth century. They lock and protect the roadsted of Marseilles. They have always been used for military and sanitary purposes. The Admiralty untimbered them to build vessels. The soil was carried away by erosion from the white limestone rocks, and a meager vegeati