The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Aix

AIX, āks, France, town and capital of an arrondissement, department of Bouches-du-Rhône, 17 miles by rail north of Marseilles. Its interest is chiefly historical. It was the ‘Aquæ Sextæ’–Baths of Sextus–founded 123 by the Roman consul Sextius Calvinus around the thermal sulphurous springs. In the Middle Ages it was the capital of Provence and became a great seat of learning, renowned for its faculties of law and theology. Both baths and university under modern development continue their usefulness; and fine historical and modern buildings attract the attention, notably the cathedral dating from the 11th century, and the archiepiscopal palace. Pop. 20,000; including suburbs, 30,000.