Coordinates: 43°10′37″N 5°36′31″E / 43.1769°N 5.6086°E / 43.1769; 5.6086

La Ciotat is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. It is part of the metropolitan area of Marseille Provence. La ciotat is located to the east of Marseille at an equal distance from Marseille and Toulon. Its inhabitants are called "Ciotadens" or "Ciotadennes".

La Ciotat is called "La Ciutat" in Occitan/Provençal/Catalan, meaning "the city". It became prominent in the 15th century.

La Ciotat was the setting of one the very first projected motion pictures, L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat filmed by the Lumière brothers in 1895. After several private showings, the fifty-second long film was given a public screening on December 28, 1895, in Paris, the first recorded commercial public showing of a motion picture. According to the Institut Lumière, before its Paris premiere, the film was shown to invited audiences in several French cities, including La Ciotat. It was screened at the Eden Theater in September 1896, making that theater one of the first motion picture theaters.