Ancient City Olbia

In the 4th century BC, Olbia was founded by Phocaean merchants from Massilia (modern-day Marseille). Conceived as a fortified port, it served to protect merchant ships from pirates and local tribes. Following the defeat of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, an ally of Massilia, Olbia was Romanized in the late 1st century BC and assigned to the city of Arles. It continued to flourish as a trading center, evidenced by the construction of thermal baths and the modernization of its port. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the city was abandoned until Cistercian monks founded the Abbey of Saint-Pierre de l’Almanarre on the site in 1223.