{"id":308,"date":"2008-06-07T23:49:39","date_gmt":"2008-06-07T13:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.travelsignposts.com\/wordpress\/?p=308"},"modified":"2008-06-07T23:49:39","modified_gmt":"2008-06-07T13:49:39","slug":"saintes-maries-de-la-mer-provence-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.travelsignposts.com\/wordpress\/france\/saintes-maries-de-la-mer-provence-france","title":{"rendered":"Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer &#8211; Provence &#8211; France"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"float: right\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\r\ngoogle_ad_client = \"pub-1009507070974015\";\r\ngoogle_alternate_ad_url = \"http:\/\/www.travelsignposts.com\/google_adsense_script.html\";\r\ngoogle_ad_width = 300;\r\ngoogle_ad_height = 250;\r\ngoogle_ad_format = \"300x250_as\";\r\ngoogle_ad_type = \"text_image\";\r\n\/\/2007-06-30: TSBlog 300x250\r\ngoogle_ad_channel = \"2928184950\";\r\ngoogle_color_border = \"FFFFFF\";\r\ngoogle_color_bg = \"FFFFFF\";\r\ngoogle_color_link = \"FF6600\";\r\ngoogle_color_text = \"000000\";\r\ngoogle_color_url = \"339933\";\r\n\/\/-->\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\r\n  src=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\r\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is both the place of pilgrimage for the Camargue gypsies as well as the name of <a title=\"Emblem of Sts. Maries de la Mer\" href=\"http:\/\/www.travelsignposts.com\/Destination\/v\/France\/StesMariesdelaMer\/France_StMaries059.jpg.html\" target=\"_self\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" style=\"float: right; margin: 5px; border: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.travelsignposts.com\/Destination\/d\/31915-2\/France_StMaries059.jpg?resize=90%2C110\" alt=\"Saintes Maries de la Mer, Provence\" width=\"90\" height=\"110\" \/><\/a>the village parish church.\u00a0 This village is steeped in history, dating back to the days of the early Christians.\u00a0 A strong association exists in this village with two St. Marys and St. Sara who is believed to be their servant.\u00a0 There have been much studies and speculations as to how the two Marys arrived in Provence and as with the tales and stories of the saints and early disciples, many of the legends have been embellished over the years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" style=\"float: left; margin: 5px; border: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.travelsignposts.com\/Destination\/d\/31907-2\/France_StMaries057.jpg?resize=110%2C80\" alt=\"Christians bannished in boats\" width=\"110\" height=\"80\" \/>We are told that the existence of Christians in Provence take into account historical facts such as the persecution of Christians in Palestine in the ancient days and the rapid manner in which Christianity spread in the first century, as evidenced by the missionary activities of St. Paul.\u00a0 It is believed that many of the persecuted Christians were put on transport boats and cast off as far away as possible with no hope of returning to Palestine. Many of these boats landed around the Mediterranean and those who survived went from town to town preaching the Good News.\u00a0 It was the practice during those times for followers and disciples to want to stay close to Jesus.\u00a0 Mary Jacob and Mary Salome were two such followers and\u00a0believed to have been <a title=\"Sts. Maries in their boat, Sts. Maries de la Mer\" href=\"http:\/\/www.travelsignposts.com\/Destination\/v\/France\/StesMariesdelaMer\/France_StMaries052.jpg.html\" target=\"_self\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" style=\"float: right; margin: 5px; border: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.travelsignposts.com\/Destination\/d\/31899-2\/France_StMaries052.jpg?resize=90%2C110\" alt=\"Sts. Maries in boat\" width=\"90\" height=\"110\" \/><\/a>arrested.\u00a0 Along with many others like Mary Magdalene, Lazarus and Maximus, they were put on boats with no sail or oar.\u00a0 Paintings in the church depict the <a title=\"Sts. Maries in their boat, Sts. Maries de la Mer\" href=\"http:\/\/www.travelsignposts.com\/Destination\/v\/France\/StesMariesdelaMer\/France_StMaries052.jpg.html\" target=\"_self\">2 Marys in their boat <\/a>as well as <a title=\"Persecuted Saints in boat\" href=\"http:\/\/www.travelsignposts.com\/Destination\/v\/France\/StesMariesdelaMer\/France_StMaries057.jpg.html\" target=\"_self\">other saints<\/a>.\u00a0 Guided by providence, their boat landed on the shores of Provence.\u00a0 There is no written records of the lives of the two Marys in Provence and their bodies were only rediscovered in 1448 when King Rene ordered some excavations below the church.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Altar candles, Sts. Maries de la Mer\" href=\"http:\/\/www.travelsignposts.com\/Destination\/v\/France\/StesMariesdelaMer\/France_Helen_1027.jpg.html\" target=\"_self\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" style=\"float: left; margin: 5px; border: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.travelsignposts.com\/Destination\/d\/31881-2\/France_Helen_1027.jpg?resize=110%2C85\" alt=\"Candles in Crypt, Sts. Maries de la Mer\" width=\"110\" height=\"85\" \/><\/a>A similar tale tells the story of Sara, and again there are various versions of how she came to exist in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.\u00a0 One version claims that she was a servant to the two Marys and another belief was that she was not Palestinian, but was from the Camargue, of noble descent and Queen of her tribe.\u00a0 According to this belief, Sara was in fact the one who welcomed the two Marys when they landed and she subsequently coverted to Christianity.\u00a0 The annual gypsy pilgrimage to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer venerates the two Saintes Marys and also St. Sara who is patron saint to the gypsies.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Saint Sara, Sts. Maries de la Mer\" href=\"http:\/\/www.travelsignposts.com\/Destination\/v\/France\/StesMariesdelaMer\/France_Helen_1030.jpg.html\" target=\"_self\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" style=\"float: right; margin: 5px; border: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.travelsignposts.com\/Destination\/d\/31877-2\/France_Helen_1030.jpg?resize=85%2C110\" alt=\"St. Sara, Sts. Maries de la Mer\" width=\"85\" height=\"110\" \/><\/a>The interior of the church is stark and quite dark as well.\u00a0 The interesting part is the crypt where it is believed the two Marys lived.\u00a0 It is quite dark in here, with the only light being\u00a0those\u00a0put out by the candles.\u00a0 It was rather hot too when we were there and the low ceiling and lack of ventilation ensured that the hot air was trapped down there.\u00a0 At the far end of the crypt, to the right of the altar, is the statue of <a title=\"St. Sara, Sts. Maries de la Mer\" href=\"http:\/\/www.travelsignposts.com\/Destination\/v\/France\/StesMariesdelaMer\/France_Helen_1030.jpg.html\" target=\"_self\">St. Sara<\/a>.\u00a0 She is draped in colorful coats and decorated with jewels.\u00a0 It is an honour to Gypsy families to be able to dress St. Sara, somewhat like an offering to express gratitude or to ask for favours or blessings.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever the truth is of the existence of the two Saint Marys and Saint Sara, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is a unique church to visit.<\/p>\n<p>Helen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is both the place of pilgrimage for the Camargue gypsies as well as the name of the village parish church.\u00a0 This village is steeped in history, dating back to the days of the early Christians.\u00a0 A strong association exists in this village with two St. Marys and St. Sara who is believed to be [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,39,59],"tags":[327,937,1583,1683,1686],"class_list":["post-308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-france","category-provence-france","category-things-to-see-do-france","tag-camargue-gypsies","tag-gypsy-pilgrimage","tag-provence","tag-saint-sara","tag-saintes-maries-de-la-mer"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - 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