Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume - Sainte-Marie-Madeleine

The "Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine" in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume (pop. ~ 14.000) is one of the largest and most important Gothic churches in of the Provence.

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As I have uploaded many fotos taken here during previous visits, I will now add only a few..
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A small merovingien church existed here, until a sarcophagus was discovered inside the church´s crypt in 1279. The inscription made clear, that this was the tomb of Mary Magdalene.

Her relics had been venerated in Vezeley since the early 11th century. This had made Vezelay Abbey to a major starting point for the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. According to a legend a monk named Baudillon brought the relics of Maria Magdalene from Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume to Vezelay. In 1058 Pope Stephen IX had confirmed the authenticity of the relics.

It was undisputed that Maria Magdalena was one of the The "Three Marys", who had fled the Holy Land by a miraculous boat and landed at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. After having worked as a sucessful missionar, she retired to a cave in the near mountains. She was buried in a crypt in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, from where the relics had been transferred to Vezelay.

The discovery of the tomb in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume in 1279 was a very clever "marketing" plot, that put the pilgrim business in Vezelay to a sudden end.

Charles II of Anjou, King of Naples founded the Basilique Ste. Marie-Madeleine in 1295. Pope Boniface VIII placed it under the new order of Dominicans.

The basilica was built over the crypt (where the tomb was found) but the works slowed down and the basilica never got completed.

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The walls around the stairs, that lead down to the crypt, are covered with graffiti. To carve names and dates into the ceiling, blackened with soot, is easy.