BASILICA OF SAINT MARY MADELEINE

With its 73 m length, 43 m width and 29 m height, the imposing silhouette of the largest Gothic building in Provence can be seen for miles around. The construction of a basilica and a Dominican convent in the heart of Saint-Maximin was decided in 1295 by the Count of Provence and King of Naples and Sicily, Charles II of Anjou, after the excavations that led to the discovery of the relics of Saint Mary Magdalene in 1279. The work will take place in several stages, spread over several centuries, interrupted several times for various problems, plague, looting or lack of money, and will extend until 1532. The basilica takes shape and is composed of a central polygonal apse flanked by two turrets, two lateral apsidioles, a large nave of nine bays, buttressed by arches, and sixteen chapels. The successive kings of France embellished the building with the woodwork of the stalls, the pulpit, the organs, the high altar and the altarpieces of the chapels. But this enormous construction was never really finished according to the plans. The main nave was simply walled up - there is no rose window, portal or bell tower. In the Middle Ages, the place where the relics of St. Mary Magdalene are located became a place of intensive pilgrimage. Saint-Maximin was then an essential stop on the road to Santiago de Compostela. Later, during the French Revolution, the basilica underwent innumerable degradations, before being classified on the list of historical monuments in 1840, as well as many elements of its interior furnishings, the sarcophagi of the crypt and the great organ and its 2,960 pipes. In 2017, the church joined famous "sisters" such as the Sagrada Familia, obtaining the title of minor basilica, which refers to churches with a particular architecture.

In the heart of the basilica, the crypt, a small rectangular room that contains four marble sarcophagi dated from the late fourth century, of Mary Magdalene, St. Marcella, the Holy Innocents and St. Sidonius.

The royal convent, originally called the Dominican convent, adjoins the basilica. Composed of four buildings surrounding a square cloister, it was closed in 1966, before being sold to the department, then occupied by a hotel in 2017, and closed again when the lease expired in 2020.