The Cross of Provence is a monument located on the western end of the

Montagne Sainte-Victoire Montagne Sainte-Victoire ( Provençal oc, Venturi / Santa Venturi according to classical orthography and oc, Ventùri / Santo Ventùri, label=none according to Mistralian orthography) is a limestone mountain ridge in the south of France whi ...

in the

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and ...

department in southern France. The cross was erected on the most prominent western peak of the massif at meters, rather than on the ''Pic des Mouches'', the highest point, at . The current monument is the fourth to be erected, the other three having suffered the ravages of time.''The Cross of Provence'' (''La croix de Provence''), in ''Sainte-Victoire'', éd. Édisud / Association for reforestation and protection of Cengle-Sainte-Victoire, Aix-en-Provence, 1998, p. 93.

First cross

The first cross of Provence was erected in the 16th century by a sailor "on the first mountain he saw" after surviving a shipwreck. The monument was made of wood and had two iron anchors at its base.

Second cross

The second cross was erected in 1785 by Jean Laurans. This cross was similar in appearance to the first, but deteriorated rapidly.

Third cross

Less than 70 years later, in 1842, a third cross was erected. The initiative came from a law student in Aix-en-Provence. It was a focus for pilgrimages in Provence, but habitual removal of mementos caused rapid deterioration which, combined with the violence of the

mistral Mistral may refer to: * Mistral (wind) in southern France and Sardinia Automobiles * Maserati Mistral, a Maserati grand tourer produced from 1963 until 1970 * Nissan Mistral, or Terrano II, a Nissan 4×4 produced from 1993 until 2006 * Microp ...

lead to its destruction.

Fourth cross

The current cross was built in 1875, on the initiative of the parish priest of Rousset, Father Meissonnier, to ward off two evils:

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and the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. The cross is high. It overlooks the chapel of Notre-Dame de la Victoire, and a 17th-century priory undergoing restoration. The metal base of the cross contains the names of its subscribers and the 104 donor parishes of the Archdiocese of Aix-en-Provence and Arles and the

Archdiocese of Embrun The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Embrun was located in southeastern France, in the mountains of the Maritime Alps, on a route that led from Gap by way of Briançon to Turin. It had as suffragans the Diocese of Digne, Diocese of Antibes and Gra ...

.« La Croix de Provence »
, Grand site Sainte-Victoire. On May 18, 1875, it was solemnly blessed by the

Archbishop of Aix The Archdiocese of Aix-en-Provence and Arles (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Aquensis in Gallia et Arelatensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse d'Aix-en-Provence et Arles''; Occitan Provençal: ''Archidiocèsi de Ais de Provença e Arle'' or ''Archidioucès ...

( Théodore-Augustin Forcade), in the presence of 3,000 faithful. The base contains four inscriptions: * Facing

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, in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: "God very good, very great, O Cross, strength of God and ours, hello! May your light so sweet to hearts that love Jesus, and so merciful to those who, alas, do not love him, shine in the distance”; * Facing

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, in French: "Croix de Provence, blessed by Monsignor Théodore-Augustin Forcade, Archbishop of Aix, Arles and Embrun, May 18, 1875"; * Facing Marseilles, in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: "Here, sailors, your lighthouse, merchants, your gain, workers, your rest and your wealth";.Archbishop Forcade inaugurates the Croix de Provence, L. Bozzetto-Ditto, in ''Deux siècles (Two Centuries of) d'Aix-en-Provence. 1808-2008'', Académie d'Aix éditions, Aix-en-Provence, 2008, p. 116, 117. » * Facing Aix-en-Provence, in Provençal: “O Croix, salut! Source of eternal light, with the blood of a God, O written testament, Provence at your feet was the first to bow. Protect Provence, O cross of Jesus Christ."

Restoration

The monument was restored for the first time in 1982, then in 2004 when the old plinth was replaced by a stone-coloured, reinforced concrete facing, which forms a 360 degree viewing bench. The 2004 restoration was necessitated by several

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strikes in 2002 and 2003.

References

{{commons category, Croix de Provence

External links

Youtube. Hiking to Montagne Sainte-Victoire : la Croix de Provence by the Shepherd's Way
Landforms of Bouches-du-Rhône Tourist attractions in Aix-en-Provence Tourist attractions in Bouches-du-Rhône Tourist attractions in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur