Monuments

Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Garoupe

Chemin du Calvaire, 06160 Antibes

The Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Garoupe is one of the oldest and most spiritually significant sites on Cap d'Antibes. The hilltop sanctuary sits beside the Garoupe lighthouse and has roots that reach back to antiquity: this was a Ligurian oppidum where Romans worshipped the moon goddess Selene, and a Christian oratory was established here as early as the 5th century.

The chapel is renowned for its extraordinary collection of around 300 ex-votos, painted panels offered by sailors and their families to give thanks for divine protection. The oldest dates from 1506. These naive paintings depict shipwrecks, storms, illnesses, and miraculous escapes, creating a vivid and deeply moving record of maritime life on this coast over five centuries.

Each year on the first Thursday of July, the Corporation des Marins d'Antibes carries the statue of Notre Dame de Bon Port in a solemn procession from the chapel down to the Antibes Cathedral, a tradition that has continued since the 16th century. The chapel is open to visitors and free to enter.

Conseils pratiques

  • Take time to study the ex-votos inside: each one tells a personal story of danger and deliverance at sea.
  • The annual procession on the first Thursday of July is a moving spectacle and a rare glimpse of authentic local tradition.