Religion holds a special place for the maritime population. The number of crosses, chapels and calvaries is still very high today. Each one bears witness to an act of gratitude, a thank you to a family spared by a tragedy, an illness or a shipwreck avoided.
Procession, B&W photo, coll. Archives municipales, Berck
Fête Dieu procession, B&W photo, coll. Archives municipales, Berck
Procession de la Fête Dieu, photo N&B, coll. Archives municipales, Berck
Eugène Trigoulet, Les Deuillantes¸ , coll. Musée Opale Sud, Berck
The blessings were also the occasion for great ceremonies. During the herring season, the calvaries are illuminated, and families can also place votive offerings there. During the processions, which were numerous between 1850 and 1950, the processions stopped at each of them.
Corner of Berck Ville, postcard, coll. Archives municipales, Berck
During the Corpus Christi procession the boys are dressed in sheepskin, carrying the lamb or a cross in the image of St. John the Baptist (patron saint of the parish), followed by the girls in white dresses crowned with roses, carrying baskets full of petals which they cover the ground.
