The Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica, nicknamed the "Good Mother", is struggling.

The coronavirus has greatly reduced the number of visitors to this emblematic building in Marseille, creating a significant shortfall.

A call for donations has been launched to raise funds while awaiting the return of visitors.

The "Bonne Mère", a famous basilica overlooking Marseille, is usually popular with visitors from all over the world.

Due to the Covid-19 crisis, it has seen its attendance greatly reduced.

The site which had received 2.2 million visitors in 2019, according to the tourist office, has seen its attendance drop by more than half since the start of the health crisis, according to Father Olivier Spinoza, rector of the Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica.

It is to compensate for this shortfall that a call for donations was launched in order, also, to maintain the proper functioning of the building.

Strong decline in revenue

"During the lockdown, we were closed and pilgrims who come from all over the world were unable to come to pray. This was also the case for tourists, including many cruise passengers. There was a little upturn this summer, but since November everything has fallen, ”notes the priest.

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These fewer visitors also means money that does not go into the cash registers.

However, the basilica lives exclusively on donations from its visitors through the purchase of candles, quests, masses or even corporate offerings.

The store for example recorded "a drop of 60 to 70% of its customers," notes Anne-Sophie Houzel, the treasurer of the basilica according to whom Notre-Dame de la Garde loses nearly 1,700 euros in revenue per day.

A call for donations

"We have fifteen employees for the maintenance and safety of the site, of which twelve are now on short-time work. We have maintenance and safety work to do, all of this requires money", underlines Father Spinoza.

"To find a compromise between the pastoral vocation of the place and the budgetary imperatives", the basilica revised its hours by opening to the public only the afternoon during the week and the day at the weekend.

"This allows us to assume a semblance of budgetary balance," explains Anne-Sophie Houzel.

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To be able to continue to function, the basilica launched an appeal for the generosity of those who are attached to it and represent, according to Father Spinoza, "a community of prayer in 88 countries".

"The goal is for people to come back to the basilica. We must reweave the link between the Marseillais and their Good Mother", explains the priest, specifying that daily guided tours of the site are now offered against once per week before.