NOTRE-DAME-DE-LA GARDE Home Page An Astonishing Architectural Style... ...And Astonishing Particularities Our Lady of the Guard in numbers "Our Good Mother" from all directions Let's go Inside... A story of abiding tenacity living Faith To Welcome You FORUM A few books

But men make war, and the hill which dominates the port is too important as a strategic site for it to be left solely to piety. In 1525 the king of France, Francis I, had the famous If castle built on the little island that gave it its name, as well as a fort on the top of the hill. The fort encompassed the chapel built three centuries before, but the military authorities allowed free access to the chapel during times of peace ( in other words, from time to time). Vestige of the coat of arms of Francis I on a wall at Our Lady of the Guard (the letter F can still be read) The fort built upon the orders of Francis I served to defend Marseilles against the armies of Emperor Charles V. It also served twice to shoot at the city : in 1591 during the religious wars, and in 1871 to dislodge from the Departmental administration building a group of local rebels allied with the insurrectionists of the Paris Commune.