Église Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Voyage, Religious building in Le Suquet district of Cannes, France.
Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Voyage is a neo-Romanesque church on Place de la Castre, at the corner of Rue Notre-Dame and Rue Buttura in Cannes. It is built of light grey stone blocks, with a gabled facade topped by a cross finial, a rose window above small arched openings and a deep arched entrance; a square, flat-capped tower rises at the corner. The lower wall bears the inscription "NOTRE DAME / DE / BON VOYAGE".
A chapel stood on this site from the 16th century, first called Notre-Dame des Sables, then Notre-Dame-du-Bord-de-Mer and Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Port; during the Revolution it served as a cooperage. The parish bought it in 1852 for 6,000 francs, and in 1865 the factory council decided to build a new church on its spot, authorised by imperial decree that December. Laurent Vianay drew the plans, the first stone was blessed on 15 December 1868, the Franco-German war of 1870 halted work and the initial project was never finished; the church was consecrated on 2 November 1879.
The name Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Voyage originally referred to sailors' safe departure; today it covers any journey. The church holds a 16th-century crucifix and 18th-century statues of the Virgin, Joseph, Anne, Anthony of Padua, Nicholas of Myra and Rita of Cascia. The Association des amis de l'orgue de Cannes organizes organ concerts on the 1901 instrument rebuilt by Muhleisen in 2008 with four manuals and 65 stops.
The church stands where Rue Notre-Dame meets Rue Buttura, a short walk from the Palais des Festivals and the sea. Enter from the north door, widened by the municipality in 1924, and look for the plaque on the north outer wall commemorating Napoleon's bivouac of 1 March 1815. The building was restored inside and out in 2018-2019.
A plaque on the north exterior wall, placed on 1 July 1932 in the presence of mayor Jean Gazagnaire, records that Napoleon I made his first bivouac on this site on 1 March 1815 after escaping from Elba. The monument was carved by Marcel Bouraine and installed by the contractors L. and E. Patras.
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