Sanctuary of Notre-Dame de Santa Cruz, Oran
A Marian sanctuary above Oran, and the place where the Church declared nineteen of her martyrs Blessed in 2018.
- Location
- Oran, Algeria 35.7069° N · 0.6675° W
- Type
- Marian sanctuary and site of the 2018 beatification A chapel of 1851 with a tower begun in 1873, an arcaded esplanade of 1952-54, and a church built between 1959 and 1962, on Mount Murdjajo below the Spanish fort of Santa Cruz
The hill where the martyrs were named
On December 8, 2018 the Church beatified nineteen religious men and women killed in Algeria in the 1990s: a bishop, seven Trappists, and eleven others. It was the first beatification celebrated in a Muslim-majority country, and it happened here, on this esplanade above the sea. They were not killed by the people among whom they lived; they were killed because they would not leave them. That distinction belongs to the Christian witness itself and the Church in Algeria insists on it. Come here to pray to nineteen new Blesseds and to see the ground where their names were read out.
From a cholera epidemic to a beatification
Oran was struck by cholera in 1849. After a Marian procession on November 4 rain fell, and the devotion to Notre-Dame du Salut took hold; a modest chapel for her statue was consecrated on Ascension Day 1851. The tower followed in 1873, the arcaded esplanade in the 1950s, and the present church between 1959 and 1962, its decoration unfinished when independence came. Then the sanctuary went quiet for decades. During the Black Decade of the 1990s the Church in Algeria lost nineteen religious, including Bishop Pierre Claverie of Oran, a Dominican born in Algeria, killed by a bomb outside his residence on August 1, 1996 along with Mohamed, the young Muslim man who drove him. Bishop Georger and then Bishop Vesco worked to bring the sanctuary back; after four years of restoration it was reinaugurated on December 7, 2018 with its esplanade newly named for living together in peace, and the next day the nineteen were declared Blessed here.
The sanctuary hangs on Mount Murdjajo, crowned above by the old Spanish fort of Santa Cruz, looking down on Oran, the harbour of Mers el-Kebir and the sea. The silhouette of the tower with the Virgin above it is one of the marks by which the city recognises itself. The statue was cast from the same mould as the Virgin of Fourviere at Lyon, so an Oranais on the hill at Lyon and a Lyonnais on this hill see the same figure.
The devotion began after the cholera epidemic of 1849 and a rain that followed a Marian procession on November 4 of that year. The chapel for the statue of Notre-Dame du Salut was consecrated on the feast of the Ascension, May 29, 1851.
The Virgin above the tower was cast in the same mould as the Virgin of Fourviere in Lyon, by the sculptor Fabisch, and was obtained by Bishop Callot of Oran, a native of Lyon.
Bishop Alphonse Georger began the work of reviving the sanctuary after the Black Decade; his successor Bishop Jean-Paul Vesco carried the restoration through. It was reinaugurated on December 7, 2018.
On December 8, 2018 the sanctuary hosted the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie of Oran and his eighteen companion martyrs. Pope Francis's message called it a sign of fraternity for the whole world.
The nineteen were killed between 1994 and 1996 and include the seven Trappist monks of Tibhirine. Pierre Claverie was killed on August 1, 1996 together with his Muslim friend and driver.
Nineteen religious who would not leave the people they loved were declared Blessed on this esplanade. It was the first beatification celebrated in a Muslim-majority country.
The sanctuary is open every day and free, and the diocese uses it for pilgrimage, encounter and cultural life alike. It is honest to say that it functions partly as a heritage and meeting place: the sanctuary does not publish a regular Mass schedule. Catholics wanting the sacraments should contact the Diocese of Oran, which has parishes in the city.
Do Not Miss
-
The esplanade
Where the nineteen were declared Blessed on December 8, 2018. It is named for living together in peace.
-
The statue above the tower
The same mould as the Virgin of Fourviere at Lyon.
-
The view to Mers el-Kebir
The sanctuary is a landmark from land, air and sea, and the city knows it.
-
Silence
More appropriate here than a list of sights.
- That the Church beatified these nineteen in a Muslim-majority country, at the invitation of that country
- That the martyrs' refusal to leave, not their manner of death, is what the Church holds up
- That the killers do not stand for the Algerian people, and that the Church in Algeria says so first
- That the sanctuary is a place of welcome and heritage as well as prayer, and that no Mass schedule is published
How to Visit
The sanctuary is above Oran on Mount Murdjajo and is open free every day, from 9.00 to 17.00 in winter and to 19.00 in summer. Guided visits from the chapel to the terraces can be booked through the sanctuary. For Mass, contact the Diocese of Oran rather than assuming a liturgy here.
- Marian devotion under the title of Our Lady of Salvation
- Prayer for the nineteen Blessed martyrs of Algeria and through their intercession
- Prayer for peace between the peoples who share this city
- Silence on the esplanade above the sea
Open daily and free; no published Mass schedule.
The sanctuary publishes its opening hours and takes bookings for guided visits, but it does not publish a regular Mass schedule. Do not assume a liturgy on arrival. The Diocese of Oran has parishes in the city and is the authority for the sacraments.
- Open
- Every day, free: 9.00-17.00 in winter, 9.00-19.00 in summer
- Guided visits
- Bookable through the sanctuary: contact@ndsantacruz.com
- Mass
- Not published for the sanctuary; contact the Diocese of Oran
- Anniversary
- December 8, the beatification of the nineteen martyrs of Algeria
Current access
Prayer and custody
Relics, Tombs, Sacred Objects
Tomb and Burial
- No burial is claimed here. Blessed Pierre Claverie is buried in the cathedral of Oran, not at the sanctuary.
Relics and Sacred Tradition
- No public relic shrine is published for the sanctuary.
Sacred Objects
- The statue of the Virgin above the tower, cast in the same mould as the Virgin of Fourviere at Lyon
- The Esplanade du Vivre Ensemble en Paix, named at the 2018 restoration
- The chapel of 1851
Continue Your Pilgrimage
Map
Hero image sourced from Wikimedia Commons (Basilicofresco, CC BY-SA 4.0). A Marian sanctuary and place of pilgrimage, not an apparition shrine, for the same reason as Notre-Dame d'Afrique. The absence of a published Mass schedule is stated explicitly rather than glossed; the sanctuary's own site advertises cultural events and guided visits but no liturgy. Bishop Claverie's burial is at Oran cathedral, not here. The driver killed with him is named only as his Muslim friend and driver: his given name appears in press accounts but was not confirmed from a Church source.
September 17, 2026
Photo credits
- Hero. Basilicofresco, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Source. CC BY-SA 4.0.