The navette is a dry boat-shaped biscuit perfumed with orange-blossom water, baked without yeast in a wood-fired oven, the canonical Marseille souvenir biscuit from the Four des Navettes since 1781.
Four des Navettes at 136 Rue Sainte has baked the navette in a Roman-model oven since 1781, the recipe held by three families over the generations. The boat shape comes from one of two legends: either the unmanned boat that brought the Saintes Maries to the Provencal coast, or the form of a Black Virgin statue washed up at the Lacydon. Every February 2 the Archbishop of Marseille processes from the Vieux Port to Saint-Victor Abbey to bless the Black Virgin, then walks to the bakery to bless the oven and the day's navettes.
2 editor picks for Navette de Marseille in Marseille, ranked by editorial score. All Marseille signature dishes · Navette de Marseille across every city.
Four des Navettes ★ 4.8
136 Rue Sainte, 13007 Marseille
Four des Navettes in Marseille's 7e is the oldest bakery in the city since 1781, the boat-shaped navettes baked in the original Roman-model oven and blessed by the archbishop every February 2.
La Cure Gourmande ★ 4.0
19 La Canebiere, 13001 Marseille
La Cure Gourmande in Marseille's 1er at the corner of La Canebiere and Rue Saint-Ferreol sells regional French biscuits and chocolates since 1989, navettes and olivettes by the box.