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Origin and history

The church of Notre-Dame-des-Passes is a Catholic church in Arcachon, Gironde department. It was built in 1863 as a chapel of a Dominican convent by the Bordeaux architect Louis Garros, in an Orthodox Greek style inspired by Byzantine churches. Inaugurated on 24 May 1864 by Cardinal Donnet, in 1928 it became the parish church of the neighborhood after an expansion.

The building is dedicated to the sailors facing the passages of the basin of Arcachon and houses the Virgin of Advent, a rare statue depicting the pregnant Virgin, originating from the Mother House of the Daughters of Charity in Paris. Originally, two dome bell towers decorated the church, replaced by roofs on the terrace.

Located on a dune overlooking the Mulleau district, the church lines with the pier and the Cape Ferret lighthouse. Restored in 1993, it symbolizes the link between the local community and the sea, as evidenced by the rescue boat Notre-Dame-des-Passes of the SNSM of Arcachon.

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