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Marseille

Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde

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    • 7am-8pm Apr-Sep, to 7pm Oct-Mar

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Lonely Planet review for Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde

Everywhere you go in Marseille, you see the opulent, domed 19th-century Romano-Byzantine basilica occupying Marseille's highest point, La Garde (162m). Built between 1853 and 1864, it is ornamented with coloured marble, murals depicting the safe passage of sailing vessels and superbly restored mosaics. The hilltop gives 360-degree panoramas of the city’s sea of terracotta roofs below.

The church's bell tower is crowned by a 9.7m gilded statue of the Virgin Mary on a 12m-high pedestal. Bullet marks and shrapnel scars on the northern facade evidence the fierce fighting of Marseille's Battle of Liberation (15–25 August 1944). It’s a 1km walk from the Vieux Port; or take Bus 60 or the tourist-train.