The “Bonne Mère” (the “Good Mother”) welcomes Marseille’s residents and visitors: seafarers, tourists, migrants, pilgrims… As a lighthouse high in the city, its sanctuary is a meeting point for all, believers or not. Notre-Dame de la Garde (“Our Lady of the Watch”) is a place for hospitality, which welcomes everybody, no matter their religion. Every visitor collects himself to pray, make a vow, enjoy the sight, see things from a higher point of view, physically and spiritually. The Christians regard Mary – a Jewish woman from Galilea – as God’s mother. She gives birth to Jesus, the Father’s only Son, who takes on our humanity, except sin. Mary’s presence in the New Testament reveals at once her centrality and her discretion.

Some Muslim people also come to the sanctuary because Mary is often mentioned in the Qur’an. In Islam, she embodies a model of maternity and feminine perfection, as the mother of the prophet Jesus (‘Isa). So, many churches dedicated to Mary are visited by Muslims, often by women, around the Mediterranean: in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Ephesus, Algiers, Istanbul, Cairo.

Intended as a pilgrimage beyond the religious borders, this exhibition opens onto the discovery of sacred places with a teeming and thriving universe of beliefs and shared rites, contradicting the usual discourse on the inescapable conflict between civilizations and between religions.

Starting from Marseille, one unveils a crown of sanctuaries where “Ave Maria” is whispered in many languages. This exhibition takes you to these places where religions greet one another, under the Virgin’s sign, as a bridge between the Mediterranean cultures and religions.

Specially designed for the Rencontres Méditerranéennes 2023, Ave Maria. A pilgrimage in the Mediterranean is a little sister of the Lieux saints partagés exhibition created in 2015 at the Mucem in Marseille. It stems from the meeting between curators-anthropologists and the team of Notre-Dame de la Garde, whose rich collections are put in the spotlight.

Press kit

Brochure

September 16: Opening in presence of the French Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline (video below)

September 20: Conference on “Shared Sacre Sites” by D. Albera and M. Pénicaud, with T. Fabre (Rencontres d’Averroès), A-B. Hoffner (La Croix), D. Maraninchi et B. Der-Gazerian.

September 22: Rencontres Méditerranéennes (MED23), visits by bishops and cardinals of the Mediterranean

La Provence : « La Bonne Mère au-delà des frontières », Christelle Carmona, September 16, 2023

Saphir News: Ave Maria: un pèlerinage depuis Marseille qui dépasse les frontières religieuses en Méditerranée, 19 septembre 2023

L'Osservatore Romano : "Quando il sacro diventa spazio di condivizione", Elena Dini, September 22, 2023

Libération: "A Marseille, la mythique et oecuménique 'Bonne Mère' s'apprête à accueillir le Saint-Père", Stéphanie Harounyan, September 22, 2023

La Croix : "A Marseille, l'exposition 'Ave Maria, un pèlerinage en Méditerranée' promeut la rencontre et l'hospitalité", Florence Chatel, September 22, 2023

Le Pèlerin : « Ave Maria, un pèlerinage en Méditerranée » : une saisissante exposition à Marseille sur les sanctuaires mariaux du pourtour méditerranéen, Gaële de La Brosse, November 21, 2023