Welcome to the official website dedicated to Tourism in the Lot
For nearly a thousand years, the narrow, lonely canyon of the Alzou has been home to a cluster of buildings clinging to the rock half way up the sheer cliffs; and from this improbable spot, a powerful call has gone out, drawing millions of the faithful to the shrine of the Black Virgin of Rocamadour.
From very early times, a chapel dedicated to Our Lady existed here, looked after by a few Benedictine monks, but it was only after the discovery of the perfectly-preserved body of Saint Amadour in 1166 that a pilgrimage began to develop. This flourished until the 15th C. and brought great wealth, which saw the development of the monastic buildings (now gone), the shrines, seven in all, the village itself, amenities such as a pilgrim hospital, water cisterns, etc., plus the essential defences: castle, ramparts and fortified gates, of which several are intact or still easily visible.
Padirac Chasm
The limestone underlying almost two-thirds of the Lot is everywhere pierced with caves, chasms, caverns, galleries and potholes…although arid on top, with little surface water, it's a different story underground, as a visit to Padirac Chasm will show. This spectacular 75 m deep hole in the ground gives access to a subterranean river, along which you travel in a small boat to reach other caverns of truly impressive dimensions, as are the stalactites and stalagmites found in them. The whole system is natural: it was not properly explored until the 19th C., and recently, cave divers have managed to chart about 40 km of galleries within the network.
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Website co-financed by the European Union. Europe is participating through the European Regional Development Fund