Église Notre-Dame-du-Mont

This guide to Église Notre-Dame-du-Mont traces Marseille's older shrine to survival at sea, built in 1586 as Notre-Dame du Mont de Rome before a side altar took on the name Notre-Dame de la Mer. You'll hear how sailors who had survived shipwrecks climbed this hill to leave offerings, long before the grander basilica across town existed, and how the French Revolution left the building itself a ruin the city had to rebuild from scratch. Stand at the altar and picture the pilgrims who came here first, before the crowds moved on.