Here on Rue Saint-Jean du Desert, echoes of Marseille’s past resonate. Saint-Jean du Desert is a district in Marseille’s 12th arrondissement. The name might suggest a barren landscape but that is far from the truth. The name “desert” here evokes the life of Saint John the Baptist. This area was never truly a desert.
Once here on Rue Saint-Jean du Desert, you would have seen a landscape rich with natural springs. The area’s clay-rich soil has fostered terracotta production since ancient times. Archaeological finds confirm human presence here since the Chasséen period. Even then people used the soil for productions of terracotta.
The Greeks cultivated vineyards here. Later the Gallo-Romans named this vast property Sarturan. In the early 10th century priests oversaw cultivation. They depended on La Major. By 1176 the canons of La Major controlled the land.
Fast forward to 1638. Benoît Monier owned a tile and clay object factory in Sarturan. He donated his pine forest. This donation allowed the construction of a chapel. The chapel was built in honor of Saint John the Baptist. He was known as “the voice crying in the wilderness.” The chapel’s construction finished in 1668. A bell tower was added in 1708. Lateral chapels followed in 1736.
Jean-Pierre de Moustiés is buried in this chapel. He was an alderman. He stood beside Bishop de Belsunce during the 1720 plague. A plaque on the facade commemorates him.
Around 1677 Joseph Fabre established a faience factory. Joseph Clérissy directed it. Clérissy was the first faience maker in his family. Saint-Jean-du-Désert preceded Moustiers in this art by a year. Clérissy died and was buried in the chapel.
Rue Saint-Jean du Desert thrived in the late 17th century. It was not just agriculture. The area boasted faience workshops, potteries, and tile factories. Clay extraction sites dotted the landscape. There were also storage hangars and workers’ homes. An oil mill, a bakery, and a quarry added to the activity. Wealthy residents also built homes here.
King Louis XIV’s decree spurred this growth. He asked wealthy subjects to melt gold and silver tableware. This was to replenish state finances. Faience became an ideal replacement. Joseph Fabre’s position in Marseille allowed him to capitalize on this. Antoine Clérissy signed some of the pieces from this period.
This prosperous period waned. The reasons included wood scarcity for kilns. Also there was limited water availability. Competition from other production sites increased. Moustiers was a competitor. Wealthy Marseillais expanded their rural estates. These factors gradually stifled faience activity on Rue Saint-Jean du Desert. Étienne Héraud moved his factory to the Saint-Lazare district in 1709. The Brun faience factory closed in 1810. The Guilles brickyard shut down in 1884. A “faience factory of Saint-Jean-du-Désert” existed in the 20th century. However, it was in the Saint-Pierre district. It produced goods from 1921 to 1959.
During the Revolution the residents successfully claimed ownership of the chapel. Wealthy Marseillais owned property here. Poets Lantier and Gaston de Flotte received guests here. Pierre Puget, Frédéric Mistral and Lamartine visited. Even the Bonapartes and Marie-Christine de Bourbon passed through.
Abbé Giffon described the area in 1957. He wrote of “luxuriant meadows, vegetable gardens, flowerbeds, and numerous ancient trees.” He said it offered pilgrims the most pleasant aspect.
Today much of the old Sarturan is gone. Saint-Barnabé, la Fourragère, la Pomme, and Saint-Pierre have encroached. Only the valley remains sparsely populated and lightly industrialized. Old factory buildings have disappeared. New constructions have replaced them. A small commercial zone and roads now occupy former farmlands.
Fortunately the hamlet around the chapel remains preserved. Though altered buildings still hint at Pierre Giraud’s faience factory. Modern roads bisect the area. Only street names recall the past. Joseph Clérissy and Gaston de Flotte are remembered in street names.
Today the Saint-Pierre RTM depot and the Blancarde SNCF depot are part of Saint-Jean-du-Désert. Yet the hamlet of Saint-Jean-du-Désert is within the district of la Pomme. Jean-Pierre de Moustiés and Joseph Clérissy are among the notable figures linked to this area.