Make Notre Dame de la Garde, Marseille’s Catholic basilica, part of your French holiday itinerary

Notre Dame de la Garde is a strange mix, it is definitely a place of pilgrimage, but it is also a fortress, which doubles up as a lighthouse. The ‘Bonne Mere’- ‘Good Mother’, was constructed on Marseille’s highest point, and is visible on a number of occasions as you make your way through the city streets below. At night, the building’s illuminated light acts like a beacon across the bay. Notre Dame de la Garde is definitely a site not to miss on your travels through the Bouches-du-Rhône on France’s south coast.

In Roman times the hill served as a lookout point and sailors would make the climb to pray and ask for safe passage. The fortress appeared in 1524 and the basilica arrived in 1864.

Henri-Jacques Espérandieu was only 24 years old when he began designing this basilica. His ideas were for that time extremely radical; his vision was of a Romano/Byzantine structure built with striped stone in different shades. The city’s multicultural past, was also inspirational, seen through an oriental/Islamic feel to the upper sanctuary, featuring acres of gold leaf and mosaics depicting olives, palm trees and exotic birds.

Having climbed the hill, you are faced with an imposing staircase leading up to the basilica. Tradition has it that true pilgrims would crawl up the steps on their knees. Even more ineresting, is that able-bodied pilgrims would put pebbles in their shoes to make the climb challenging.

Many of the stones have engravings on them, telling of escapes from storms, war, failure in life and even mundane problems. Paintings show dramatic incidents such as shipwrecks, and civil unrest. Models of boats hang from the ceiling, connections with the city’s maritime history. In fact, votive offerings from pilgrims are scattered throughout the basilica – crash helmets, war medals even life buoys, to name but just a few. Supplicants arrive throughout the year and there is a major pilgrimage to the basilica takes place on the 15th August each year, with torchlight processions and mass.

Give yourself time to wander around the terrace, which wraps itself around the building, it will afford you a 360-degree view of the city, its surrounding hills, the bay and even neighbouring islands. Telescopes have been set up at all the best vantage points. The site is also home to a new museum, displaying 800 years of its history, as well as examples of many more supplicant offerings.

It’s safe to say that the incredibly beautiful and historically mesmerising Notre Dame de Garde, should be part of your French holiday itinerary.