The Saint-Pilon chapel

Five hundred metres west of the col du Saint-Pilon, at 994 metres, a small cubic building topped with a lantern stands on the ridge. Tradition places here the spot where angels carried Mary Magdalene seven times a day to pray, up from the grotto below.

The name

"Pilon" comes from the Provençal pieloun, the summit, from the Latin podium. Another explanation refers to the column, pillar or "pilon", said to have been raised here, topped with a statue of the saint.

A chapel rebuilt several times

A first chapel was built in 1493, leaning against the pilon. Destroyed at the Revolution, it was rebuilt in the simple form we know today. A major restoration was carried out from 2015 to 2017, with the rubble removed by helicopter.

The panorama

The chapel stands on the GR 98, at the busiest point of the ridge. An orientation table helps to read the landscape: on a clear day the view stretches from the Sainte-Victoire to the Calanques and the Alps. The climb from the grotto is short but steep, through the limestone pavement, and the wind is almost always present.