Saintes Maries de la Mer is the main town of the Camargue in the south of France. It is a commune of the Bouches du Rhône department, by the Mediterranean Sea. Population: 2,478 (50,000+ during the summer holidays). It has a land area of 374.61 km² (144.64 sq mi), the second-largest area of all communes in Metropolitan France, smaller only than that of neighboring Arles.
After the Crucifixion of Jesus, Mary Salome, Mary Jacobe, and Mary Magdalene were cast adrift in a boat that arrived off the coast of what is now France "a sort of fortress named Oppidum-Râ", and the location was known as Notre-Dame-de-Ratis (Râ becoming Ratis, or boat); the name being changed to Notre-Dame-de-la-Mer, and then Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in 1838. Wikipedia |
