The abbey of Victor Saint
The first manifestation of Christianity in Marseilles occurred under Maximien Hercule and at the time of the martyrdom of Victor Saint who took place about year 288. Victor of Alexandria formed part, as officer, of the Roman legion which occupied the citadel. Announced to its heads like a follower of the new religion, it was put in residence to give up this religion. Victor refused and Maximien Hercules, which was passage in Marseilles, ordered his torment. Victor had the sliced head, at the same time as three of the soldiers made with his guard and who had stated to adhere to the worship of Christ. The bodies of the four martyrs, jetés with the sea and pushed back by the floods on the shore, were collected and placed in a cave which became one of the vaults of the abbey of Saint-Victor.
Saint-Victor the worthy abbey between all, witness of the first steps of Christianity in Gaule, since it goes up at the beginning of Ve century and was rested by Cassien saint into 415, time or holy Honorat built, always on these Mediterranean shores, the abbey of Lérins. Before the destruction sarrasines, several hundreds of monks were in a hurry there. The abbey of Saint-Victor was located out of the walls of the city, it included/understood several kinds of monks: the ones were people of famous birth who subjected themselves to the monastic discipline, others called anchorites, had broken all links which attached them to the world and remained locked up in a cell.
Saint Victor became the owner of Marseilles.
The local history brings back the great festivities to us which proceeded on July there 21, day of its festival; thus it was a time when that day an armed rider pointing out Victor the valiant one who embanked the infernal daemon (see the escutcheon above the gate) traversed the city and the quays then came to join the procession which crossed the port on a bridge of boats to go to the antique abbey. (the city at that time be side quay of the port).
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St Victor embanking the dragon
It remains only little of things of the church, which was devoted into 1040, if not the northern side wall. It is undoubtedly the oldest abbey which was built in Provence. The excavations of 1965 made rediscover " martyrium ", fall it from that which one honours under the name of Victor saint, of the end of IIIe century.
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See
A. Meunier (draughtsman) Sight of leglise of S. Victor of Marseilles... / Meunier fecit has Marseilles in 1791. Pen-and-ink drawing and Indian ink, watercolour. |
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Jean-Baptiste Jorand(1788-1850) Sight of the Church St Victor in Marseille/Jorand 1822. Drawing with the black lead and washing to brown ink on slightly tinted paper. |
Each year, in Marseilles, February 2, an enormous crowd presses itself as of before the paddle in front of the abbey of Saint-Victor. In the presence of the Archbishop this multitude takes part in the procession of the Candlemas. Everywhere in Marseilles, that day, one sells small cakes in the shape of boat which one calls the shuttles: this tradition recalls the arrival on the shores of Marseilles of Lazare saint, who would have been the first bishop of the city, with his two sisters, Madeleine and Marthe, and both " Marie ", Marie Jacobé, sister of the Blessed Virgin, and Marie Salome, mother of the apostles Jacques saint and holy Jean, like their Sarah maidservant. The ones and the others, gone up on a boat, would have landed in Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer.
The furnace of the shuttles is with some steps of the abbey of St-Victor. This founded bakery, in 1781, (oldest of Marseilles) summer, at the time, out the walls of Marseilles. The Marseillais who came, the morning early, to attend the offices of this festival were to be with jeun to be able communier. The baker had the idea to manufacture this small cake in the shape of boat so that the output of the masses has people can be restored and take some forces to make, for some, a long path.
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