Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Basilica of Notre-Dame-de-l'Immaculée-Conception of Boulogne-sur-Mer rises on the remains of a Marian sanctuary dating back to the 7th century. According to tradition, a miraculous statue of the Virgin, arrived by sea in 633, was venerated in the Middle Ages. A Roman chapel, then an abbey founded in 1090 by Saint Ide — the mother of Godefroy de Bouillon — made Boulogne a high place of pilgrimage, attracting kings of France and England. The abbey, transformed into a cathedral in the 16th century after the destruction of Thérouanne, suffered the wars of Religion and the Revolution, which destroyed the building in 1798.

The reconstruction began in 1827 under the impulse of Abbé Benoît-Agathon Haffreingue, who conceived the neoclassical plans himself. The dome, completed in 1863, peaks at 100 meters, overlooking the city. Consecrated in 1866, the church was elevated to the rank of minor basilica by Leo XIII in 1879. The crypt, rediscovered in 1827, reveals 2,000 years of history, from Roman remains to medieval frescoes, sheltering a sacred treasure including the reliquary of the Holy Blood offered by Philip IV the Bel in 1308.

The monument, classified in 1982, preserves major works such as the frescoes of Charles Soulacroix (1864) or the bells melted by Guillaume d'Angers (1854–70). Damaged in 1921 by the collapse of its vault, the basilica was restored and reopened its crypt in 2015. A symbol of Catholic renewal in the 19th century, it remains a place of pilgrimage and an exceptional architectural heritage, marked by its emblematic dome and bi-millennial history.

Future

The basilica is an important tourist destination in the city and is known for its dome overlooking the agglomeration and its crypt, which is one of the largest in France.

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