Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde
- Address:Montée de la Bonne Mère, Marseille
- Hours:Open daily.
- Admission:Free
Cultural Experience, Holy Place, Must-Do Experience, Religious Experience, Church / Cathedral, Statue / Monument, Tower
7:17 AM Sunday, May 27
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Everywhere you go in Marseille, you'll see the golden statue of the Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde, the Romano-Byzantine basilica rising up from the city's highest hill, La Garde (530ft/162m). Built between 1853 and 1864, the domed basilica is ornamented with colored marble, murals, and intricate mosaics, which were superbly restored in 2006 after suffering damage from the atmosphere, candle smoke and war. Bullet marks and vivid shrapnel scars on the cathedral's northern façade mark the fierce fighting that took place during Marseille's Battle of Liberation in August 1944.
Its bell tower is crowned by a 30 ft (9.7m) tall gilded statue of the Virgin Mary on a 40 ft (12m) high pedestal. Locals see her as the guardian of their city and call her 'la bonne mere' or the good mother. Each year on August 15th, there is a popular Assumption Day pilgrimage to the church. From the dome you get a 360-degree panorama of the city's sea of terracotta rooves below.
Latest Reviews All Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde Reviews »
Our "Private tour: Marseille City Sightseeing" was amazing. Our fabulous guide Jessica was waiting for us (my teen boys and I) at the Train Station and it was wonderful....our first time in Marseille and we had no clue what to do. She took us to the major Sightseeing...beautiful city. We had so many questions and Jessica knew how to answer them all. When we were done, she showed us how to go to Château d'If, how to get back to the Train Station and gave us a big warm goodbye hug...so sweet. We highly recommend the tour and Jessica! The Old Port of Marseille ( Vieux- Port) is not to far from the Train Station(Saint Charles)...we walked back, but we love to walk.
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Our guide, under a difficult situation, accident on freeway which cause hour + delays, adapted and made up for all the sights we wanted to see. She was extremely knowledgeable with all aspects of French life. We really appreciated her guidence.
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Bus 60 links the Vieux Port (from cours Jean Ballard) with the basilica. Otherwise, there's a little train, which departs from the Vieux Port for the 20-minute trip up the steep hill. This gives you around 20 minutes to look around before catching the next one back down. By foot, it's 0.6 miles (1km) south of the Vieux Port.
