Eglise Saint-Laurent, Romanesque church in La Tourette, Marseille, France

Eglise Saint-Laurent is a Provençal Romanesque church on the La Tourette hill, built of pink stone from Cap Couronne. It has a single nave with side aisles ending in an apse and apsidioles, no transept, and almost no carved decoration. A square bell tower with a round-arched opening and corbelled cornice rises beside the facade, whose central doorway is framed by a classical pediment.

Built at the end of the 12th or start of the 13th century in pink stone from Cap Couronne, the church became Marseille's fourth parish in 1249 under Bishop Benoît d'Alignan. In 1668 a west bay was removed for the construction of Fort Saint-Jean, and the main door was moved to the south side. In 1943 it survived the German dynamiting of the old port quarter but was badly shaken by the explosions.

The church remains central to the fishing community of Marseille, and you can see how locals gather here during religious celebrations throughout the year. Its connection to the harbor life shapes how people relate to the building and its role in the neighborhood.

The church stands at 16 esplanade de la Tourette on the La Tourette hill, next to Fort Saint-Jean. The main door was moved to the south side in 1668, so visitors enter from there rather than the west. The baptistery chapel is currently closed pending restoration.

The church kept its bell tower through the 1943 dynamiting of the Old Port quarters by German forces: the blasts shook the building badly, and the parish priest had the death knell rung while the neighbourhood was being destroyed. The 17th-century octagonal tower is reached by a spiral stair in a turret.