Above Allauch and Mimet, the Massif de l’Étoile unfolds in striking scenery. The path to Notre-Dame des Anges traces a clear line through pine trees, garrigue, rocky outcrops, and ridges opening onto the horizon a walk that is both athletic and contemplative.
Here, the story begins in 1220, when a Franciscan hermit, Brother Jean, chose a cave as his refuge. Legend has it that on an Assumption Day, he heard the choir of angels accompanying his chants. The site took its name and soon attracted other hermits. Later, the consuls of Aix and Marseille disputed this spiritual promontory, successively occupied by Benedictines and then Franciscans. In 1640, the Oratorian Order, close to Richelieu, definitively consecrated the site, building a hermitage and a monastery, later destroyed during the Revolution.
From Plan-de-Cuques or Gardanne, the trail climbs in switchbacks toward the summit. Small stone oratories appear at the bend of a turn, guiding silhouettes marking the ascent. Some have been restored, perpetuating the dialogue between heritage and landscape. The terrain then reveals its full splendor. Jurassic dolomite spires rise sharply within the heart of nature. At the Col Sainte-Anne, the panorama is breathtaking: the Mediterranean shimmers on one side, while Mont Ventoux emerges in the distance.
It was also in this cave that, in the 17th century, the first Provençal nativity scene appeared, when the Oratorians introduced santons brought from Italy. Two of these figurines are still preserved in the church of Mimet, vestiges of a tradition that has endured through time.
Eight centuries later, the path of Notre-Dame des Anges remains a timeless escape, where landscape and history intertwine across the span of eight hundred years.
