Gouvernement Princier de Monaco
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Sainte Dévote: the spread of Christianity

Legend has it that during the widespread persecution of Christians that was ordered by Rome in 303, the shores of the Portus Herculis Monœci washed up the cadavre of Dévote a young Christian woman who was martyred in Corsica.
Her body had been left on a small boat heading for Africa where people thought she would be given a Christian burial, as the governor had wanted the young girl to be burnt. A dove  is said to have come out of the mouth of the saint and guided the boat to the valley of the Gaumates. There, an oratory was built, probably in the same place as the ancient temple which was dedicated to Hercules. This is how the Saint Devota cult began.
After the initial miracles had taken place, a looter got hold of the relics, with the intention of selling them. According to legend, a group of fishermen caught the thief’s boat, which was then burnt on the beach as an atoning sacrifice. In remembrance of this incident, a boat is burnt in the port of Monaco in the evening of 26 January, the night before Sainte  Dévote ay is celebrated in the Principality.

Sous titre :
4<sup>th</sup> century

Date de début :
-700

Type de bulle :


Ordre précédent/suivant :
0

Couronne ? :
No

Related Personalities :
Sainte Dévote


https://en.gouv.mc/Government-Institutions/History-and-Heritage/Periods/An-ancient-history-Prehistory-and-Antiquity/Sainte-Devote-the-spread-of-Christianity