Marseille, FRANCE - Ascenseur / Funicular for Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica: Notre-Dame de la Garde (literally: Our Lady of the Guard), in French for Marseille's citizens "la Bonne-mère" (the Good (Holy) Mother), is a Catholic basilica in Marseille, France, the city's best-known symbol. The site of a popular Assumption Day pilgrimage, it was the most visited site in Marseille. It was built on the foundations of an ancient fort at the highest natural point in Marseille, a 149 m (489 ft.) limestone outcropping on the south side of the Old Port of Marseille. Construction of the basilica began in 1852 and lasted for 21 years. It was originally an enlargement of a medieval chapel, but was transformed into a new structure at the request of Father Bernard, the chaplain. The plans were made and developed by the architect Henri-Jacques Espérandieu. It was consecrated while still unfinished on 5 June 1864. The basilica consists of a lower church or crypt in the Romanesque style, carved from the rock, and an upper church of Neo-Byzantine style decorated with mosaics. A square 41 m (135 ft) bell tower topped by a 12.5 m (41 ft.) belfry supports a monumental 11.2 m (37 ft.) statue of the Madonna and Child made of copper gilded with gold leaf. In 1892 a funicular was built to reduce the effort of scaling the hill; it became known as the ascenseur or elevator. The base was at the lower end of Rue Dragon. The upper station led directly onto a footpath to the terrace beneath the basilica, leaving only a short climb to the level of the crypt at 162 m (531 ft). Construction took two years. The funicular consisted of two cabins each weighing 13 tons when empty, circulating on parallel cogged tracks. The movement was powered by a "hydraulic balance" system: each cabin, in addition to its two floors capable of holding fifty passengers total, was equipped with a 12 cubic meter tank of water. The cabins were linked by a cable; the tank of the descending cabin was filled with water and that of the ascending cabin emptied. This ballasting started the system moving. The vertical distance between the two stations was 84 m (276 ft.). The water collected at the foot of the apparatus at the end of each trip was brought back to the top with a 25-horsepower pump—true horsepower, because the pump was powered by steam. Travel time was two minutes, but filling the upper tank took more than ten minutes, forcing waits between departures, in spite of often considerable crowds. The last adventure after the ascent was crossing the 100-meter footbridge up the steep slope. Built by Gustave Eiffel, the footbridge was only 5 metres (16 ft) wide and very exposed to the mistral winds. On August 15, 1892, the number of visitors exceeded 15,000, but the advent of the automobile killed the funicular. On September 11, 1967 at 18:30, the funicular was shut down as unprofitable. It was demolished after having transported 20 million passengers over 75 years. This Divided Back Era (1907-15) postcard is in good condition. E. L. No. 6.