Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

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Administration
Commune of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer
Location
Longitude	04° 25' 43" E
Latitude	43° 27' 10" N
Country	France
Région	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Département	Bouches-du-Rhône
Arrondissement	Arles
Canton	Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer
Intercommunality	nc
Mayor	Roland Chassain (2002-2008)
Statistics
Altitude	0 m–6 m (avg. 4 m)
Land area¹	374.61 km²
Population² (1999)	2,478
- Density (1999)	6.6/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	13096/ 13460
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

Narrow streets in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (lit. "Saint Marys of the Sea") is the main town of the Camargue in the south of France. It is a commune of the Bouches-du-Rhône département, by the Mediterranean Sea. Population: 2,478 (50,000+ during the summer holidays).

1 Religion
2 Miscellaneous
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Religion

The three saints Mary Magdalene, Mary Salome and Mary Jacobe, whose relics are the focus of the devotions of pilgrims are believed to be the women who were the first witnesses to the empty tomb at the resurrection of Jesus. After the Crucifixion of Jesus, Mary Salome, Mary Jacobe, and Mary Magdalene were cast adrift in a boat that arrived off the coast of what is now France "a sort of fortress named Oppidum-Râ", and the location was known as Notre-Dame-de-Ratis (Râ becoming Ratis, or boat) (Droit, 1961, 19); the name being changed to Notre-Dame-de-la-Mer, and then Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in 1838.

It is a pilgrimage destination for Roma (Gypsies) who gather yearly in the town for a religious festival in honor of Saint Sarah also known as Sara-la-Kali (Sara the black).