It was not until the reign of Louis XIV that this "rebellious" town became a "courtesan", organised around judiciary and religious power. Revitalised by prodigious social and urban development, Aix changed, and architectural areas expanded.

From 1646 onward, aristocrats, advisers, magistrates and notables left their homes in the medieval town to settle in the new Mazarin quarter, created by the brother of the Cardinal.

In 1650, the Parliament opened a street for horse-driven carts in place of the crumbled ramparts, which in the 19th century became the Cours Mirabeau, named after the "idol of Provence", a member of Parliament of the Third Estate in 1789. The richly adorned facades and monumental gates of the mansions flaunted the success of their owners. Men of letters, scholars and artists gathered in their living rooms.

Religious foundations were established in large numbers, most of them educational and medical.