Basilique Notre-Dame de la Garde

The Basilique Notre-Dame de la Garde crowns a limestone hill about 150 metres above the sea on Rue Fort du Sanctuaire in Marseille's 7th arrondissement, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France. The hill has been a lookout since antiquity, and a chapel was recorded there in the 13th century. In the 16th century Francis I fortified the summit, and the fort that resulted was built around the chapel. The present basilica was built between 1853 and 1864 to designs by Henri Espérandieu, in a Roman-Byzantine style, on a base that incorporates the older fortifications. A crypt carved into the rock forms the lower church, while the upper church is lavishly decorated with mosaics, marble and painted vaults. The bell tower is topped by a 9.7-metre gilded statue of the Virgin and Child, installed in 1870 and cast in copper and gilded, which has become the emblem of the city and is nicknamed la Bonne Mère by locals. Sailors and fishing families have long made offerings here, and the walls of the nave and the crypt are covered with ex-voto paintings, model ships and plaques. The basilica has no museum in the usual sense, but the ex-votos function as a popular archive of maritime life, and a small exhibition covers the history of the hill. In August 1944 the site was damaged in the fighting for the liberation of Marseille, and bullet marks can still be seen on the stone near the entrance. The building underwent restoration of its facades and the statue in the 2000s and the gilding was refreshed. Today the esplanade offers the widest panoramic views in Marseille, taking in the Vieux-Port, the Frioul islands and the Château d'If. Entry is free, and the site can be reached by foot, by road, or by the tourist train. The climb is steep, so many visitors take the bus or a taxi up and walk down. The basilica remains an active place of worship and pilgrimage, so visitors should be respectful during services.