Boulogne-sur-Mer's Virgin Mary, miracles and pilgrimage through France
And also
The tops
The altar Virgin |
Velvet / CC-BY-SA
The story began when in 636, a mysterious crewless boat, bringing a Virgin Mary statue, grounded on Boulogne's beach.
Not far from here, on the location of the current basilica, the Virgin Mary appeared to a handful of believers... and she told them about the shipwreck!
The pilgrimage was born... and what a pilgrimage! Kings of France and England came here in order to pray the Virgin...
Nevertheless, the basilica itself only dates back to 1827, raised at the location of the former church destroyed during the French Revolution and completed in 1866.