Sanctuaire de la Madone de Fenestre

Saint-Martin-Vésubie

At the head of the Madone valley, ringed by the walls of the Mercantour, this sanctuary perched at 1,903 metres is one of the highest pilgrimage sites in the southern Alps. Tradition traces its foundation to the Benedictines, under the name of Notre-Dame de Grâce, before a destruction attributed to the Saracens; the Templars are said to have raised it again in the 13th century and turned it into a hospice for travellers crossing the Col de Fenestre into Piedmont. The name of the place comes from a gap, a "window" opened in the rock of the Cayre de la Madone that overlooks the sanctuary: it was through this opening that the Virgin is said to have appeared in the sky. Venerated here is a statue in cedar of Lebanon, a crowned Virgin and Child holding a globe surmounted by a cross, which tradition says the Templars brought back from the Holy Land and which art historians date to the 14th century; it was solemnly crowned in 1762 and again in 1826. The most striking rite is a transhumance: the statue never stays alone in the mountains. On the last Saturday in June it goes up in procession from the church of Saint-Martin-Vésubie, spends the summer at the sanctuary, and on the second Sunday in September comes back down to the village for the winter, the main feast being held on 8 September, the Nativity of the Virgin. Shepherds from the Nice country and pilgrims from Piedmont used to meet here from either side of the pass, making the place a cross-border meeting point as much as a sanctuary. Storm Alex, in October 2020, swept away the access road and gave the valley back much of its old isolation.

Pèlerinages de France — La Madone de Fenestre ↗

Getting there : WARNING: the RM94 road linking Saint-Martin-Vésubie to the sanctuary (13 km) was destroyed by Storm Alex in October 2020; provisionally reopened in 2022, it was still announced as closed for an indefinite period by the Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur in July 2026. It is essential to check before setting out (Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur, 3906). Access possible on foot, and by the GR52 from Le Boréon via the Pas des Ladres. Out of season, the statue can be seen in the church of Saint-Martin-Vésubie, in the village.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound