Santa Dévota, the patron of Monaco and her church of the vallon des Gaumates
In the ravine of the Gaumates, next to the port of Monaco, the church of Santa Dévota is hidden, documented from about 1070 as possession of the abbey of Saint- Pons. The memory of the young martyr Corsa Dévota, patron of the Principality and of the Grimaldi family, whose feast of January 27 is a national holiday, is preserved.
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- According to tradition, Dévota, a young Christian from Corsica, was martyred in the year 304 under Diocletian; the boat carrying his body, led by a dove in the middle of the storm, shone on the beach of the vallon des Gaules, where it was buried next to a small chapel.
- The chapel, cited around 1070, was priory in the 13th century, passed to Honorato I of Monaco in 1536, was restored and extended by Prince Charles III with reopening on January 26, 1871, and was parish since 1887.
- On the eve of the feast, on 26 January, the sovereign prince and his family set fire to a symbolic boat before the church, in memory of the ship that brought the saint; on 27, pontifical mass in the cathedral and procession of relics through the port with the blessing of the palace, the city and the sea.
- The brides of the main house place their wedding bouquet there: so did Princess Gracia (Grace Kelly) after her wedding in 1956 and Princess Charlène in 2011.
Santa Dévota of Monaco
The small church of Santa Dévota, almost a thousand years of history next to the port of Monaco, guards the martyr that the sea gave to the Principality. Every January, the burning boat and the procession of its relics renew the simple faith of an entire people.
"Santa Dévota, which the sea brought you to Monaco: pray with Mary for those who sail and for those who seek port.
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