Basilique Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Garde de Longpont-sur-Orge

Longpont-sur-Orge

Longpont is one of the oldest Marian sanctuaries in the Île-de-France, set on the slope of the Orge valley. According to the tradition related by the sanctuary itself, an image of the Virgin and Child was found in the hollow of an oak, long before any church; the statue venerated today, whose exact age is unknown, is believed to contain a fragment of that original image. The historical priory, for its part, was founded in 1031 by Gui I of Montlhéry and his wife Hodierne de Gometz, then given to the abbey of Cluny in 1061. Its reliquary collection, one of the richest in the region, holds among other things a fragment attributed to the Virgin's veil, which tradition traces back to Saint Denis. The pilgrimage is attested from the 12th century and grew to regional scale: in the early 20th century, the basilica received around 40,000 pilgrims a year. Pius X raised it to the rank of minor basilica in 1913, and Notre-Dame de Bonne-Garde has been, since 1969, patroness of the diocese of Évry-Corbeil-Essonnes. Of the medieval sanctuary there survives a remarkable carved portal of the 13th century, the transept and choir having been demolished in 1819 and rebuilt in 1875–1878. A late tradition, visibly modelled on that of Chartres, holds that the site housed a cult predating Christianisation: no archaeological evidence establishes this, and that version belongs to origin myth, not history.

Wikipédia — Basilique Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Garde ↗

Getting there : In the centre of the town, place des Combattants, on the edge of the Orge valley, a few minutes from the RN20 between Montlhéry and Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois. Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois station (RER C) then bus. Open to visitors, sanctuary still active.

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

Ambient sound