Visit Rocamadour, medieval and religious city

A worldwide reputation

Vertiginous city floating between earth and sky

Devant un coucher de soleil à Rocamadour

Vue sur le canyon de l'Alzou depuis les remparts de Rocamadour

En contemplation devant la cité de Rocamadour

First shock, the city, which is in fact a tiny village with a worldwide reputation, seen from l’Hospitalet! Built in successive levels on the side of a cliff, it clings 120 meters above a canyon where the Alzou flows, a tributary of the Dordogne. Its houses, its roofs and its churches seem to be part of the rock.

What genius imagined and built Rocamadour? Your visit will perhaps reveal it to you. Already, in the Middle Ages, Rocamadour was admired. In the 12th century, pilgrims travelled from all over Europe to come and pray here. The village held the relics of Saint Amadour (a famous hermit who found solitude in Rocamadour) and the famous sword of Durandal known for its legend. It was also the venerated sanctuary of the Black Virgin.

An important center of pilgrimage

Rocamadour is above all a high place of pilgrimage. From the 12th century, it attracted sovereigns and saints from all over Europe. The growing success, the small city is covered little by little with religious buildings and fortifications. In the 15th century, pilgrimages going out of fashion, Rocamadour gently dozed off. It was not until 1858 that major restoration work on the sanctuaries began. The troubadour neo-Gothic style was then in vogue and left its mark on the village.

Don't miss

Montée des marches de la cité de Rocamadour

The courtyard surrounded by the sanctuaries, with the Saint Sauveur basilica, the church of Saint-Amadour, the chapel of Notre Dame (Our Lady) in which stands the statue of the Black Virgin in wood and the chapel of Saint-Michel.

L’Hospitalet, the esplanade from which you get the finest view of the village.

The pedestrian street, Rocamadour’s only shopping street. Between two shops, you can spot the fine houses. The Maison Hugon (13th – 17th C.), the Maison de l’Ecu, the Maison de la Caretta (14th C.), the Town Hall and the Lurçat tapestries.