Notre-Dame de la Garde (; ), known to local citizens as (), is a Catholic basilica in Marseille, France, and the city's best-known symbol. The site of a popular Assumption Day pilgrimage, it is the most visited site in Marseille. It was built on the foundations of an ancient fort at the highest natural point in the city, a limestone outcropping on the south side of the Old Port of Marseille.
Construction of the basilica began in 1853 and lasted for over 40 years. It was originally an enlargement of a medieval chapel but was transformed into a new structure at the request of Father Bernard, the chaplain. The plans were made and developed by the architect Henri-Jacques Espérandieu. It was consecrated while still unfinished on 5 June 1864. The basilica consists of a lower church or crypt in the Romanesque style, carved from the rock, and an upper church of Neo-Byzantine style decorated with mosaics. A square bell tower topped by a belfry supports a monumental statue of the Madonna and Child, made of copper gilded with gold leaf.
An extensive restoration from 2001 to 2008 included work on mosaics damaged by candle smoke, green limestone from Gonfolina which had been corroded by pollution, and stonework that had been hit by bullets during the Liberation of France. The restoration of the mosaics was entrusted to Marseille artist Michel Patrizio, whose workmen were trained in Friuli, north of Venice, Italy. The tiles were supplied by the workshop in Venice that had made the originals.
History
The rocky outcrop upon which the basilica would be built is an Urgonian limestone, peak dating from the Barremian and rising to a height of 162 metres (531 ft) above sea level. Its height and proximity to the coast caused the hill to become an important stronghold and lookout point and a landmark for sailing. In 1302, Charles II of Anjou ordered one of his ministers to set beacons along the Mediterranean coast of Provence. One of the beacon sites was the hill of Notre-Dame de la Garde.
First chapel
In 1214, maître (master) Pierre, a priest of Marseille, was inspired to build a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary on the hill known as La Garde, which belonged to the abbey of Saint-Victor. The abbot granted him permission to plant vines, cultivate a garden and build a chapel. The chapel, completed four years later, appears in a June 18, 1218 papal bull by Pope Honorius III listing the possessions of the abbey. After maître Pierre died in 1256, Notre-Dame de la Garde became a priory. The prior of the sanctuary was also one of four claustral priors of Saint-Victor.
From the time that the chapel was founded, surviving wills showed bequests in its favour. Also, sailors who survived shipwrecks gave thanks and deposited ex-votos at Notre-Dame of the Sea in the church of Notre-Dame-du-Mont. Towards the end of the 16th century, they began going to Notre-Dame de la Garde instead.
The first chapel was replaced at the beginning of the 15th century by a larger building with a richly equipped chapel dedicated to Saint Gabriel.
Fort and place of worship from 16th to 18th centuries Charles II d'Anjou mentioned a guardpost in the 15th century, but the present basilica was built on the foundations of a 16th-century fort erected by Francis I of France to resist the 1536 siege of Marseille by the Emperor Charles V during the Italian War of 1536–38.
Visit of Francis I
On January 3, 1516, Louise of Savoy, the mother of Francis I of France, and his wife, Queen Claude of France, daughter of Louis XII, went to the south of France to meet the young king, right after from his victory at Marignan. On January 7, 1516, they visited the sanctuary. On January 22, 1516, Francis accompanied them to the chapel as well.
The king noted during his visit that Marseille was poorly defended. The need to reinforce its defenses became even more obvious in 1524 after the Constable of Bourbon and emperor Charles V lay siege to the city and almost took it. François I built two forts: one on the island of If, which became the famous Chateau d'If, the other at the top of La Garde, which included the chapel. This is the only known example of a military fort sharing space with a sanctuary open to the public.
The Chateau d'If was finished in 1531, while Notre-Dame de la Garde was not completed until 1536, when it was used to help repel the troops of Charles Quint. It was built using stone from Cap Couronne, as well as materials from buildings outside the ramparts of the demolished city to keep them from providing shelter to enemy troops. Among these was the monastery of the Mineurs brothers where Louis of Toulouse was buried near the and Cours Saint-Louis.Louis Méry et F. Guindon, Histoire analytique et chronologique des actes et des délibérations du corps et du conseil de la municipalité de Marseille, éd. Barlatier Feissat, Marseille, 1845–1873, 7 vol., t. 3, note 1, p.335
The fort was a triangle with two sides of approximately 75 metres and a third of 35 metres. This rather modest fort remains visible on a spur west of the basilica, which was restored in 1993 to its original state when a 1930 watch tower was removed.
Above the door can be seen a very damaged escutcheon of François I, the arms of France, three fleurs-de-lys with a salamander below. Nearby, to the right, is a rounded stone weathered by time which once represented the lamb of John the Apostle with its banner.
Wars of religion
In 1585 Hubert de Garde de Vins, chief of the Catholic League of Provence, sought to seize Marseille and combine forces with , the second consul of Marseille, and Claude Boniface, captain of the Blanquerie neighborhood. On the night of April 9, 1585, Dariès occupied La Garde, from which his guns could fire on the city. But the attack on Marseille failed, leading to the execution of Dariès and his accomplice, Boniface.
In 1591 Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, tried to seize the Abbey of Saint Victor, a stronghouse near the port. He charged Pierre Bon, baron de Méolhon, governor of Notre-Dame de la Garde, with seizing the abbey. On November 16, 1591, Méolhon did so but it was quickly retaken by , first consul of Marseille. in 1594. He sent two priests, Trabuc and Cabot, to celebrate mass in the chapel. Trabuc wore armour under his cassock and after the ceremony killed the captain of the fort. Charles de Casaulx took possession of it and named his son Fabio its governor. After the assassination of Charles de Casaulx on February 17, 1596, by , Fabio was driven out of the fort by his own soldiers.
Last royal visit While in Marseille on November 9, 1622, Louis XIII rode in spite of the rain to Notre-Dame de la Garde. He was received by the governor of the fort, Antoine de Boyer, lord of Bandol. When the latter died on June 29, 1642, Georges de Scudéry, mainly known as a novelist, was named governor, but he did not take up his post until December 1644.
He was accompanied there by his sister, Madeleine de Scudéry, a woman of letters who gave in her letters many descriptions of the area as well as of various festivals and ceremonies. "Last Friday... you could see the citadel covered from head to foot with ten or more flags, the bells of our tower swinging, and an admirable procession returning to the castle. The statue of Notre-Dame de la Garde holding in her left arm the naked child and in her right hand, a bouquet of flowers, was carried by eight shoeless penitents veiled like ghosts."
Georges de Scudéry scorned the fort and preferred to live at , the aristocratic quarter of the time. The stewardship of the fort was entrusted to a mere sergeant, named Nicolas.Adolphe Crémieux, Marseille et la royauté pendant la minorité de Louis XIV (1643–1660), Librairie Hachette, Paris 1917, 2 volumes, p.319
In the 1650 Caze affair, the governor of Provence, the Count of Alais, opposed the Parliament of Provence in the Fronde and wanted to put down the revolt in Marseilles. Since La Garde was a desirable strategic position, he bribed Nicolas and on August 1, 1650, installed there one of his men, David Caze. He hoped to support an attack by galleys from Toulon, a city faithful to him. The consuls of Marseille reacted to this threat by forcing David Caze to leave the fort.
18th century In 1701, the Dukes of Burgundy and of Berry, grandsons of Louis XIV, visited the sanctuary. Sébastien Vauban, who succeeded Louis Nicolas de Clerville, the builder of , studied ways to improve Marseilles' defences. On April 11, 1701, he presented an imposing proposal for a vast enclosure connecting Fort Saint Nicolas to Notre-Dame de la Garde and continuing to the plaine Saint-Michel, currently Place Jean-Jaurès, and the quay d'. This project was not followed through.
During the Great Plague of Marseille, which killed 100,000 people in Marseille in 1720, the bishop Henri de Belsunce went three times on foot to the chapel at the Notre-Dame de la Garde on September 28 December 8, 1720; and August 13, 1721, to bless the inhabitants of the city.
Revolutionary period
Closing of the chapel On April 30, 1790, the fort was invaded by anti-clerical revolutionaries who crossed the drawbridge on the pretext of attending mass in the chapel, a ruse previously adopted by the ligueurs in 1594. On June 7, 1792, Trinity Sunday, the day's traditionally large procession was disturbed by demonstrations. During the statue's return to the sanctuary, the Virgin was wrapped in a scarf in the revolutionary tricolour and a Phrygian cap, icon of the French Revolution, was placed on the head of the baby Jesus.
On November 23, 1793, the church buildings were closed down and worship ceased. On March 13, 1794, the statue of the Virgin, made in 1661 from silver, was melted down at the mint of Marseille, located at 22 Rue du Tapis-Vert at the former convent of Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy.Adrien Corns, ' ' Historical dictionary of the streets of Marseille' ', ED. Jeanne Laffitte, Marseilles, 1989, p.360, .
A prison for princes In April 1793, the King's cousin Louis Phillipe, Duke of Orléans was imprisoned in Notre-Dame de la Garde for several weeks, along with two of his sons, the Duke of Montpensier and the Count of Beaujolais, his sister Louise, Duchess of Bourbon, and the Prince of Conti. Despite the lack of amenities in the old apartments of the governor, the prisoners enjoyed the panorama. Each day the Duchess of Bourbon attended mass then went to the fort's terrace and often remained as much as two hours in contemplation. The princess Louise, who painted well, left behind a pencil drawing of Marseille as seen from the Virgin of Notre-Dame de la Garde. The prisoners were then transferred to Fort Saint-Jean.
Joseph Escaramagne
The last of the objects from the sanctuary were auctioned off on April 10, 1795. The chapel was nationalized and rented to Joseph Escaramagne. A former ship's captain who lived in what is now the current place du Colonel-Edon, Escaramagne had a deep devotion to the Virgin. After worship resumed in some parishes, he wrote in September 1800 to the Minister of War, Lazare Carnot, asking to reopen the sanctuary. But prefect Charles-François Delacroix voiced opposition when the minister consulted him. The chapel finally re-opened for worship on April 4, 1807.
Escaramagne bought at auction an 18th-century statue of the Virgin and child from a monastery of the Picpus Fathers that had been demolished during the Revolution. He offered the statue to the La Garde church. The scepter that the virgin had held was replaced by a bouquet of flowers, hence the statue became known as the "Virgin of the bouquet". To make way for a new silver statue created in 1837, this statue was given to the , then returned in 1979 to the sanctuary. The statue of the Virgin of the bouquet is currently displayed on the altar in the crypt.
Renaissance of the sanctuary