Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume

The basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, begun in 1295 and completed in 1532, is the most important Gothic religious building in Provence.

Built under the impulse of Charles II of Anjou, Count of Provence, after the "rediscovery" of the relics of Saint Mary Magdalene under the floor of the city's church a few years earlier, this church was intended to be the place to welcome pilgrims to the tomb of Mary Magdalene. The planned grandiose works were to last for several centuries and were interrupted several times. The church was never finished according to the plans. A major place of pilgrimage for Christianity in the Middle Ages, the building was damaged during the French Revolution but preserved its 18th century organ.

It is classified on the list of historical monuments of 1840, and many elements of its interior furnishings are also classified as Historical Monuments such as the sarcophagi of the crypt, paintings, sculptures and the large organ case. The church "officially" obtained the title of minor basilica in 2017.

Recent excavations and studies have revealed the presence of a religious complex dating back to antiquity and present under the floor of the basilica, as well as outside the building.

The basilica houses several relics of Christian saints, the most famous of which is the head of Mary Magdalene, venerated in this place since the Middle Ages. This relic was reinstalled in a large reliquary in 1860, after the destruction of its original reliquary. The reliquary is placed in the crypt, next to the paleochristian sarcophagi.