Take part in the 2024 “I love my bell tower” competition

“You, the last bastion just before Spain, who ticks off the hours of the day and watches over our village nestled at the bottom of its little cove between sea and mountains, on this Vermeille Coast where the blue of the sky and the sea mingle , the green of the vines and the ochres of the houses that you seem to protect. You are the witness to the meeting of the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean…” This is how, last year, Francine Martinez-Margerin celebrated the bell tower of her. church of the Transfiguration-du-Saint-Sauveur, in Cerbère (Pyrénées-Orientales). In 2023, her poetic and touching letter made her the national winner of the first edition of our “I love my bell tower” competition.

Given the success of this operation, Le Pèlerin, in partnership with the La Sauvegarde de l'art français foundation, the local channels of the BFM Régions and RCF network, is doing it again this year and launching the second edition. To compete, each participant must send us a personal letter describing their emotional connection with the church or chapel of their choice, accompanied by a photo.

To support our approach, Stéphane Bern, sponsor of this prize, invites you to read on our site his own letter to his bell tower, that of the Thiron-Gardais abbey church (Eure-et-Loir).

Next June, a jury will select thirteen regional winners for the final phase of the competition. You will then be able to discover them on our site and elect the text which will be your preference, until August 23, 2024. During the summer, share this call to vote around you: it is the opportunity to make your church shine, your town or region! The winner who has received the most votes at the end of this period will then be elected national winner of our competition.