The Grotto of Mary Magdalene

A beech wood with nothing Provençal about it

Dense, cool and almost austere, it stands in sharp contrast with the Mediterranean vegetation around it. This is a relict of the glacial age, where centuries-old beeches, maples, limes and yews grow side by side, forming a canopy of northern character, unexpected beneath this climate. Regarded as sacred, the wood has been protected since the Middle Ages.

A sanctuary hollowed into the cliff

A hundred and fifty steps bring the climb to an end. At nearly 900 metres above sea level, the cliff parts : vast and deep, the grotto cuts naturally into the rock, and the sanctuary has been built into the wall itself. From this height, the view drops away onto the forest far below.

Inside, the chapel occupies the uneven floor of the grotto. Rows of benches face the altar, stained-glass windows are set into the built wall that closes the opening, and the vault remains the bare rock. Behind the altar stands a Mary Magdalene in prayer, a marble by Houdon that came from the charterhouse of Montrieux.

Why Mary Magdalene is venerated here

Mary Magdalene is a major figure of Christianity, called « the apostle of the apostles » by the Catholic Church, for she was the first to witness the Resurrection of Christ and to announce it to the apostles. According to tradition, driven from the Holy Land, she landed at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, passed through Marseille, then found refuge in the Sainte-Baume, where she is said to have lived as a recluse for the last thirty years of her life, in prayer and silence, until her death.

Tradition traces the first signs of veneration back to the 5th century, with the arrival of Saint Cassian. Religious fervour has made this one of the oldest and best-known places of pilgrimage in France, still visited by hundreds of thousands of people every year. The Dominicans settled here in 1295 and have been its custodians ever since. Plundered during the Revolution, the grotto was restored in the 19th century by Father Lacordaire, who also had the present guest house built in 1859.

Towards the ridge and the Saint-Pilon chapel

The trail continues towards the Chapel of the Parisians, joins the crest of the cliff, then leads to the Saint-Pilon chapel, perched above the monastery. From there the horizon opens on both sides : to the south, the Mediterranean glimmers in the distance, over towards Cassis and its calanques ; to the north stands the outline of Mount Sainte-Victoire.

The pilgrimage does not end at the grotto : it is in the crypt of the basilica of Saint-Maximin, at the foot of the massif, that the relics attributed to Mary Magdalene are kept. The climb takes only part of the day, leaving time to reach the villages of the Sainte-Baume afterwards.