Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The House of Etienne de la Boëtie:
This house was a typical 16th-century mer-
chant's home—family upstairs and open ground floor (its stone arch now filled in) with
big, fat sills to display retail goods. Pan up, scanning the crude-but-still-Renaissance
carved reliefs. It was a time when anything Italian was trendy (when yokels “stuck a
feather in their cap and called it macaroni”). La Boëtie (lah bow-ess-ee), a 16th-century
bleeding-heart liberal who spoke and wrote against the rule of tyrannical kings, remains a
local favorite.
Noticehowthehousejusttotheleftarchesoverthesmallstreet.Thiswasacommon
practice to maximize buildable space in the Middle Ages. Sarlat enjoyed a population
boom in the mid-15th century after the Hundred Years' War ended.
• If you're doing this walk during the day, head into the cathedral now. If it's after hours,
skip ahead to the Lantern of the Dead: Face the cathedral, walk around it to the left, up
the lane, and through the little door in the wall to the rocket-shaped building on a bluff 30
yards behind the church.
Cathedral of St. Sacerdos:
Thoughthecathedral'sfacadehasafewwell-worn12th-
century carvings, most of it dates from the 18th and 19th centuries. Step inside this histor-
ic Sarlat interior. The faithful believed that Mary delivered them from the great plague of
1348, so you'll find a full complement of Virgin Marys here and throughout the town. The
GothicinteriorsinthispartofFrancearesimple,withcleanlinesandnothingextravagant.
The first chapel on the left is the baptistery. Locals would come here to give thanks after
they made the pilgrimage to Lourdes for healing and returned satisfied. A column on the
right side of the nave shows a long list of hometown boys who gave their lives for France
in World War I.
• Exit the cathedral from the right transept (through a padded brown door) into what was
oncetheabbey'scloisters.Snoopthroughtwoquietcourtyards,thenturnleft,makingyour
way around to the back of the church, where you'll climb steps (above the monks' grave-
yard)toabluffbehindthechurch.You'llfindabullet-shapedbuildingreadyforsomekind
of medieval takeoff, known as the...
Lantern of the Dead (Lanterne des Morts):
Dating from 1147, this is the oldest
monument in town. In four horrible days, a quarter of Sarlat's population died in a plague
(1,000 out of 4,000). People prayed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux for help. He blessed their
bread—and instituted hygiene standards while he was at it, stopping the disease. This lan-
tern was built in gratitude.
• Facing the Lantern of the Dead, exit downhill and to the left, toward an adorable house
with its own tiny tower. Cross one street and keep straight, turn left a block later on Im-
passe de la Vieille Poste, make a quick right on Rue d'Albusse, and then take a left onto...
