What to see in Saintes Maries de la Mer, itinerary including the main monuments and places of interest of this small village in the Camargue, a marshy region of southern France.
Tourist information
Saintes Maries de la Mer is a small town located on the southern coast of France in the territory of the Camargue, an extensive territory located between the two arms of the delta of the Rhone river which presents a characteristic fauna and flora.
It is considered the home town of gypsies with long roots that sink into a distant past, when nature allowed the first populations to settle in this marshy environment.
Legend
The legend of the Maries has been handed down to today, that is, the one that tells of how the 3 Pie Donne or Saintes Maries arrived here in the year 18 AD, which in the tradition of the place since then have always been considered the Protectors of the area. .
The Pious women, together with their companions, were abandoned along the coast of Palestine to sea currents, aboard a boat without oars and sails.
The crew included Maria Giacoma, sister of the Virgin, Maria Saloma, mother of the apostles Giacomo and Giovanni, Lazzaro, Maria Maddalena, Marta, Massimino, Sidone.
Sara also joined them and managed to reach the drifting boat. Propelled by a miraculous wind, the boat with its crew landed on the coast of the Camargue.
To thank God, their travel companions first raised an oratory where some stayed to pray while others went around the region to evangelize the populations.
The Pious women died here and were buried in the place where an oratory was erected and subsequently the church, which became part of the defensive system of the town.
What see
The current church is very simple in Romanesque style and has a single nave with five regular bays and one ending on the apse with a low arch vault.
The church of Saintes has the appearance of a church and fortress together, placed in a dominant position both on the village and on the sea to reassure the inhabitants, the wayfarers and the people eager for prayer yesterday as today.
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On the right side of the nave there is a niche in which the Saintes Maries are represented, or the pious women Maria Giacoma and Maria Salomè, inside the miraculous boat that made them land on the beach.
The relics of the two Saints are instead preserved in the high chapel from which they are extracted once a year on the occasion of the great pilgrimage held on 24 and 25 May in honor of Santa Sara, the servant symbol of fidelity and typical exoticism wandering people for whom there is simply faith and a profound feeling of pride for one's race.
