Basilique Notre-Dame de la Garde

It was in 1214 that Master William, the Abbey of Saint-Victor, Peter Lord allowed to settle and build a chapel on the hill of the Guard, which rises to 162 meters (so called because at its peak is the watcher, guarantee the security of the city). The faithful are so many that it must expand and build new chapels.

In 1853, the architect Espérandieu began construction of the basilica, dedicated June 4, 1864 by Cardinal Villecourt. But there is still much work to do. The architect Revoil Espérandieu succeeds, and only in 1917 that completed the construction of this collective work, the monument of London's most famous.

The statue of the Virgin and Child, high of more than nine meters, is executed between 1867 and 1869 on the model of the sculptor Eugene Lequesne in the workshops of the house Cristofle in Paris. The "Good Mother" is the patron saint of sailors and protector of the city.