Marché de Noailles

Bustling daily street market — the city's North African heart

The Marché de Noailles spreads along the streets immediately south of La Canebière, behind the Cours Belsunce, and is the most visibly North African neighbourhood in central Marseille. The market itself is a chaotic daily affair — fruit and vegetable stalls, butchers, bakers selling khobz and msemen, herbalists with sacks of dried lavender and rose, fishmongers, halal meat counters, and a constant turnover of street-food carts. Prices are some of the lowest in the city.

The surrounding streets — Rue d'Aubagne, Rue du Marché des Capucins, Rue Halle-Delacroix — house Algerian, Tunisian, Comorian, Senegalese and Vietnamese groceries and small restaurants. This is where to buy ras-el-hanout, harissa from the bulk barrels, fresh dates, North African pastries, and prepared dishes like brik to take away. The Maison de Saveurs orientales is reliable for sweets; the small Vietnamese phở places on Rue Halle-Delacroix do generous portions for under €10. Lunchtime is busy and best avoided if you don't like crowds.

shopping market things to do
A story
Noailles is often described as the 'belly of Marseille'. In 2018 two old buildings on the Rue d'Aubagne, just behind the market, collapsed killing eight people — a public scandal that exposed years of municipal neglect of this multi-ethnic quarter. The market itself has since been redeveloped, though it has kept its rough, working character.