“The bull’s horn went through here,” the former matador said, lifting his shirt to point to a wide bandage wrapped around his abdomen.

“Now my bullfighting career is finished,” he said, pointing to a photo hanging in his shop in the town of Arles. “But the Saint Maries protected me.”

Intrigued, I decided to make an unplanned detour to the seaside church dedicated to the two saints and combine a day at the beach with some historical sightseeing.

Annual Pilgrimages to Saintes-Maries de la Mer

Since then, the landing site has been an important site for Christian pilgrims. It is also home to another saint – Black Sara, patroness of the Romany gypsy people. All three saints are celebrated in annual pilgrimages where their statues are carried to the sea by the faithful.

Visiting the Saints' Statues in the Romanesque Church

The village offers a winding promenade alongside windswept bays and tempting beaches, but the heart of the town remains its dark Romanesque church. Constructed in the 12th century, it once provided the local population with refuge from invaders and still protects the holy relics housed within. Above the entrance door is a Camargue cross comprised of three symbols – a cowhand’s fork, a sailor’s anchor and a heart – representing love, faith and work of rural life.

An alcove within the vaulted interior of the church preserves the statues of the two Saintes-Maries, holding urns of aromatic spices inside a blue boat. Nearby, is their "pillow," a marble rock polished to a fine sheen due to centuries of veneration by the faithful.

Beyond, are dark stone stairs leading to a crypt, where the bones of the two saints were discovered in 1448. Now, it holds the statue of Sarah-la-Kali or Black Sara. Her origins are unclear. Some legends say she was an Egyptian servant. Others claim she was the daughter of Mary of Magdalene and Jesus, born after Mary's flight to Alexandria. Her blackness may be a symbolic representation of how her identity was hidden by the secret society described in The Da Vinci Code.

Despite the mystery surrounding her origins, for Romany pilgrims, worship is more than just an act of religious devotion. For their nation without a country, Black Sara unites them in the face of centuries of persecution – including slavery, death within Nazi concentration camps and widespread discrimination.

I took a place among the devotees to pay my own respects. Black Sara towered over us, dressed in finery and draped in colored ribbons. The room was dark, except for the flickering of hundreds of votive candles. Following the lead of others, I touched her below her downcast eyes and placed an offering in the box beside her. Her brown face was serene and warm.

Later, my Camargue cross and gitano good luck charm were intriguing souvenirs of an ancient mystery. They were also reminders that it’s worthwhile to leave time for detours when traveling.