Canal de Marseille, Drinking water canal in Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Canal de Marseille is a water conduit extending roughly 84 kilometers across Provence, with some sections underground and others visible as bridges and aqueducts. The system includes the notable Roquefavour aqueduct and numerous crossing structures built to carry water over valleys and obstacles.

Engineer Franz Mayor de Montricher oversaw construction between 1839 and 1854 to bring water from distant sources to resolve Marseille's severe water shortage. This project represented a major shift in how the city could access water for its growing needs.

The canal's name appears in Occitan as Canal de Marselha, and its water has long fed the market gardens and farms around Marseille. Since 1849 it has supplied the city's drinking water; until 1970 it was almost the only source, and it still provides two-thirds.

The system still supplies about two-thirds of Marseille's water demand and works alongside the Canal de Provence built later. Walking along visible sections offers a good sense of the infrastructure, especially near the aqueduct crossings.

The intake originally sat on the Durance at the Pertuis bridge, 185 m up and 50 km from Marseille; since 1966 water has entered from the EDF Durance canal after Saint-Estève-Janson, and the old upstream stretch is called the Ancien Canal de Marseille.