Rocamadour

Rocamadour does not sit in its landscape so much as cling to it: a medieval village built straight up a limestone cliff above the Alzou gorge, its single street, sanctuaries and crowning chateau stacked one above another like a carved altarpiece. For eight centuries it was one of Europe's great pilgrimage stops - kings and saints climbed the Grand Staircase on their knees to the chapel of the Black Madonna, a small dark walnut Virgin that still draws the faithful - and the sword lodged in the cliff above the chapel door is said by legend to be Durandal, hurled there by the dying Roland. Seen from the opposite side of the gorge at dusk, lights coming on layer by layer, it is one of the most theatrical village views in France.

History

People lived in the caves of Rocamadour in the Palaeolithic, as the drawings of the Grotte des Merveilles show, and the Linars cave served as a Bronze Age burial place. In 1105 a small chapel is recorded in a shelter of the cliff called Rupis Amatoris, the abbot of Tulle settled here in 1112, a first miracle was announced in 1148, and the 12th-century Book of Miracles shows the sanctuary of the Virgin already famous; Henry II of England came in 1159 to give thanks for his healing, the Black Madonna dates from the 12th century, and the abbot Géraud d'Escorailles, from 1152 to 1188, built the religious buildings from pilgrims' gifts. In 1166 an intact body found by the chapel was presented as that of Saint Amadour, later burned in the Wars of Religion, and in 1291 Pope Nicholas IV granted indulgences to visitors; the end of the 13th century marked the height of Rocamadour's influence, and in 1317 the monks left (Wikipedia, Rocamadour).

What to look for

• The Black Madonna chapel - the ancient carved Virgin at the heart of the sanctuaries.
• The Grand Staircase - the pilgrim climb of over two hundred steps through the village layers.
• The Durandal sword legend - the blade in the cliff above the chapel door.
• The gorge viewpoint at L'Hospitalet - the full stacked-village panorama, best at dusk.

When to go

Late spring and early autumn give warm light on the cliff without the July-August processions of visitors. Morning belongs to pilgrims and photographers; by midday the single street fills. Winter is strikingly quiet, with some businesses shuttered.

Things to know

Rocamadour is vertical - the visit is essentially one long stair climb, though lifts shortcut the steepest sections for a fee. The single street is unabashedly touristic, all goat-cheese shops and souvenirs; the sanctuaries above it remain genuinely moving. Parking sits at the top or bottom, never the middle. The famous view is from across the gorge, so budget the short walk or drive to L'Hospitalet for it.

Nearby

The Gouffre de Padirac cave river, the Dordogne valley's chateaux and the honey-stone villages of the Lot are all close.

Key facts