Our Lady of the Guard, also known locally as "Good Mother" is a minor basilicas of the Catholic Church. It is located on a rocky peak of 149 meters south of the Old Port of Marseille, elevated 13 meters through walls and foundations of an ancient fort
Built by architect Henry Espérandieu in the Romano-Byzantine and dedicated June 5, 1864, it replaced a chapel built by the same name 1214 and rebuilt in the fifteenth century. Built on the foundations of a fort built by the sixteenth century Francis I in 1536 to withstand the siege of Charles V, the basilica has two parts: a lower church, or crypt, carved into the rock and the Romanesque style, and- above a high church-style Romanesque Byzantine decorated with mosaics.
On top of a square tower 41 meters high topped himself with a sort of tower of 12.5 meters which serves as a pedestal, stands a monumental statue of 11.2 meters of the Virgin and Child made of copper with gold leaf. The stone used for construction, especially the green from near Florence, had proven susceptible to atmospheric corrosion, it was necessary to undertake from 2001 to 2008 a long and careful restoration.
In Marseille, Notre-Dame de la Garde is traditionally regarded by the public as the guardian and protector of the city.
the Cathedral of the Major
Fort St Nicolas,
and the surrounding hills.
The restoration also included the renovation of the mosaics, the Liberation damaged by bullet holes and blackened over time by smoke candles.
The inside dimensions of the upper church are quite modest. The nave has a length of 32.7 m. and a width of 14 m. Each side chapel measuring 3.8 m. by 5.4 m. Inside the upper church is the triumph of the polychrome with magnificent mosaics and marble columns and pilasters with alternating red and white colors. If the white Carrara marble was needed, in contrast to the red choice was very difficult. The architect wanted a Espérandieu red shade to match the tiles and not too sharp with the white Carrara marble.
The mason Jules Cantini made the discovery at a place called "the beautiful stones" on the commune of La Celle near Brignoles (Var) of a marble deposit red marbled with yellow and white, receiving a fine polish, which agreed perfectly. For the upper parts is stucco, that is to say of reconstituted marble, which was adopted.
The mosaic ceilings and walls with the developed surface is about 1 200 m2 have been made from 1886 to 1892 by the company based in Nimes Mora. The tiles that came from Venice, were manufactured by craftsmen at the top of their game. Each panel contains nearly 10,000 tiles per m2, accounting for about 12 million basilica plaid January-February cm2.
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