Plan-d'Aups-Sainte-Baume, FR

Sanctuary of Sainte-Baume

The sanctuary of Sainte-Baume, also known as the Sainte-Marie-Madeleine cave, is a sanctuary erected in a cave in the Sainte-Baume massif. It is an important pilgrimage site for the cult of Saint Mary Magdalene, evangeliser of Provence. As early as the 5th century, Saint John Cassian founded the first priory there. Throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, popes, kings and princes made pilgrimages to the cave, one of the most famous in Christianity. The Revolution initiated a period of uncertainty for the cave, which changed owners quite frequently until the cave became the property of the municipality of Plan d'Aups in 1910. A community of four Dominican friars was re-established in the summer of 2002.

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Other nearby buildings

Saint Mary Magdalene Church

The church was built in 1295 on the crypt housing the remains of Mary Magdalene, making this church of her the third tomb of Christianity in terms of importance. The church also harbors several treasures, including the reliquary which houses the skull of Marie-Madeleine, the crypt and its 4 sarcophagi, the choir and its 94 stalls, the altarpiece by Antoine Ronzen with its 16 panels of the Passion of the Christ, and the organs of the basilica composed of 2692 pipes.

Wikimedia Commons/Wayne77

Église Saint-Sauveur

The church of Saint-Sauveur in Aubagne is a Romanesque church built between the 11th and 12th centuries and consecrated on 18 October 1615 by the bishop of Marseille. The church was adjacent to a castle that was destroyed during the French Revolution.

Notre-Dame Monastery of Montrieux

This hermitage dates back to the 12th century, and it is still inhabited by a dozen monks. The Montrieux Monastery is built on the eastern foothills of Sainte-Baume.

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