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Notre-Dame de la Garde (literally Our Lady of the Guard), is a Catholic basilica in Marseille, France. This Neo-Byzantine church was built by the architect Henri-Jacques Espérandieu on the foundations of an ancient fort. The fort was located at the highest natural elevation in Marseille, a 149 m (490 ft) limestone outcrop on the south side of the Old Port of Marseille. It is an important local landmark and the site of a popular annual pilgrimage every year on Assumption Day, August 15. The basilica was consecrated on June 5, 1864, replacing a church of the same name that was built in 1214 and restored in the 15th century. Charles II d'Anjou mentioned it as a guardpost in the 15th century, but the present basilica was built on the foundations of a 16th-century fort erected by Francis I of France to resist the 1536 siege of Marseille by the Emperor Charles V. It consists of a lower church or crypt in the Romanesque style, carved from the rock, and an upper church of Neo-Byzantine style decorated with mosaics. A square 41m bell tower (135 ft) topped by a 12.5m belfry(42 ft) supports a monumental 11.2 m (27 ft) statue of the Madonna and Child made of copper gilded with gold leaf.〔Official statistics given at the time of a visit to the sanctuary〕 The green limestone from the Florence area that was used to build the basilica was discovered to be sensitive to atmospheric corrosion. An extensive restoration took place from 2001 to 2008, including work on mosaics damaged by candle smoke and the impact of bullets during the Liberation of France at the end of World War II. People from Marseille traditionally see Notre-Dame de la Garde as the guardian and the protector of the city. Local inhabitants commonly refer to it as ''la bonne mère'' ("the good mother").〔''Being Provencal.'' Niranjani Iyer. India Today Travel Plus. IN FOCUS: MARSEILLE. April 2008.〕 == A unique site == The Bay of Marseille opens west to the sea. It is bordered by the mountain ranges Star Massif to the north, Sainte-Baume to the east, and the Massif de Marseilleveyre to the south. In the middle of this broad depression a cretaceous limestone peak rises to a height of 162 metres with the basilica at its summit.〔C. Gouvernet, G. Guieu, C. Rousset, ''Geological guides régionaux'', Marseilles, ED. Masson, Pars, 1971 p. 198.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Notre-Dame de la Garde」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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