Photo : Velvet / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Site de Rocamadour
Rocamadour, in the Lot, is a Marian town clinging to a cliff that overlooks by about 150 metres the Alzou canyon. A place of pilgrimage developed there in the twelfth century; a chapel is mentioned in 1105 and the discovery of a body presented as that of Saint Amadour, in 1166, strengthened its renown. Henry II of England came there in 1159.
The religious town is tiered around the esplanade of the sanctuaries: the basilica of Saint-Sauveur and the crypt of Saint-Amadour, classified as World Heritage under the Routes of Santiago de Compostela, and several chapels, including that of Notre-Dame which houses the twelfth-century Black Virgin. The monumental staircase of 216 steps was climbed on their knees by pilgrims.
A Way of the Cross leads to the castle and the Cross of Jerusalem, a belvedere over the site. Fortified gates protect the medieval town, and a pedestrian corniche links L'Hospitalet above the canyon.
