Four des Navettes

The Four des Navettes opened on 24 November 1781, founded by master baker Antoine Lauzière at 136 rue Sainte in Marseille's 7th arrondissement, close to the Abbaye Saint-Victor. It is considered the oldest bakery still operating in the city. Lauzière first baked the navette three months after opening, in time for Candlemas, and the recipe was later passed on when the business was ceded to David Aveyrous; the exact formula has been kept as a guarded family recipe ever since. The biscuit's name comes from the Latin "navis," meaning ship, a reference to its elongated, boat-like shape and to the local legend of the Saintes-Maries arriving on the Provençal coast by boat. The navette became closely tied to Candlemas, held every 2 February at the nearby Abbaye Saint-Victor: after the religious procession, the faithful would traditionally continue on to the bakery to buy the orange-blossom biscuits, believed to bring good luck through the following year. The bakery's vaulted wood-fired oven, built at the end of the 18th century, is still in use today and is credited with giving the navettes their distinctive texture. The shop remains a fixture of the Saint-Victor neighborhood and a reference point for the Candlemas tradition in Marseille.