Sainte-Dévote, the little church that explains the Monegasques

Sainte-Dévote church is small, hemmed in between the station, the harbour and the traffic of La Condamine, and plenty of people walk past without a glance. I think that’s a mistake, because it holds the story the Monegasques tell about themselves. And once a year, at the end of January, it’s the centre of the most distinctive of Monaco’s traditions and festivals.

A church at the station exit

It stands on Place Sainte-Dévote, where the Gaumates ravine opens out, its front turned towards the harbour. If you arrive by train and leave through the Parvis Sainte-Dévote exit, it’s right in front of you. From the same square, a public lift climbs step-free to Boulevard de Belgique, in the Les Moneghetti district. The parish points out that the saint watches over the Principality, the Grimaldis, the archdiocese and Corsica, the island where she died, all at once.

The visit is short. I’d step inside for ten quiet minutes and carry on to the Place d’Armes market or the harbour, both in the same district, which I cover in La Condamine, the harbour district. The parish calendar lists the rosary at 17:00 on weekdays, adoration at 17:30 and Mass at 18:00. I haven’t been able to confirm the Sunday times on its website.

So who was St Devota?

A young Corsican woman martyred for her faith around the year 304. The Mairie places the martyrdom in Lucciana, twinned with Monaco since 2008. According to tradition, fishermen laid her body in a boat, which came ashore in Monaco on a 27 January. The government adds the loveliest detail of the legend, a dove that flew from the saint’s mouth and guided the boat to the Gaumates ravine, exactly where her church stands now.

What strikes me is how present she still is. Her cult runs through all the churches in Monaco and has even reached the coins, and the first book ever written in Monegasque, by the poet Louis Notari, is called «A Legenda de Santa Devota». Even the flag has a poetic reading that links its red to her blood, although the government explains the colours by the Grimaldi arms, as I set out in the flag of Monaco.

26 January, the boat that burns

The feast spans 26 and 27 January. The most recent detailed programme the government has published is the 2025 one. On the morning of the 26th, at 10:30, this church holds the Mass of the traditions in the Monegasque language. At dusk, at 18:00, the procession of the relics sets off round the harbour, and a councillor hands them to the clergy, the very relics tradition says the sea brought in. At 19:00 there’s a benediction in the church.

Then comes what, for me, justifies the journey. The Prince and the princely family set fire to a symbolic boat on Quai Albert Ier, in memory of the one that carried the saint’s body. In 2025, after the burning, the council laid on a drone show visible from the harbour instead of fireworks. The exact time of the burning isn’t published, because it follows the benediction, so I’d be on the quay with time to spare.

On the morning of the 27th there’s a pontifical Mass at the cathedral, at 10:00 in 2025, with the Prince present, and afterwards a procession winds round the Rock blessing the Palace, the city and the sea. If you want to see it, go up in good time, and I describe the building in Monaco Cathedral.

The corner that bears her name

There’s a contrast here I love. The first corner of the Formula 1 circuit is called Sainte-Dévote and skims past the church’s façade. At the 2027 Grand Prix its stand, Grandstand A, costs €40 on Thursday, €250 on Friday, €700 on Saturday and €950 on Sunday, and every other stand is listed in my Monaco Grand Prix guide.

Outside race weeks, cars and buses roll through as on any other street, and this is where the climb towards the Casino begins. If you fancy walking the track, this is the natural starting point, and I explain the full lap in walking the Monaco circuit.

When to go and how to fit it in

Any day will do for a quick look, and the most practical moment is as you arrive or leave by train. For the feast, though, I’d set aside the whole evening of 26 January. In 2027 that week overlaps with the end of the Monte Carlo Rally, which finishes on the 24th, and with the Circus Festival, from the 22nd to the 31st, so it’s a good idea to check the calendar of events in Monaco before fixing your dates.