The site of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde Basilica in Marseille was first occupied by a small chapel built in 1214 and then rebuilt in the 15th century. It was destroyed in 1853 to make way for a larger basilica that could accommodate an increasing number of pilgrims following the cholera epidemic. The construction of the current basilica required more than forty years of work directed by the architect Henry Espérandieu who designed this landmark of Byzantine inspiration.