Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Taxi:
Call 06 73 44 79 98 or 06 86 18 71 55.
In the Upper Town (L'Hospitalet)
If you're coming from Sarlat or from the north, your first view of Rocamadour is the
same as the one seen by medieval pilgrims—at the top of the gorge from the hamlet of
L'Hospitalet,
named for the hospitality it gave pilgrims. Stop here for the sweeping views
(a right turn takes you to the
Château
parking lot described above; a left leads to the
glassy TI and the lower Cité). Imagine the impact of this sight in the 13th century, as awe-
struck pilgrims first gazed on the sanctuary cut from the limestone cliffs. It was through
L'Hospitalet's fortified gate that medieval pilgrims gained access to the “Holy Way,” the
path leading from L'Hospitalet to Rocamadour.
Rocamadour's Religious History
RocamadourwasonceoneofEurope'stoppilgrimagesights.Todaytouristsreplace
the pilgrims, enjoying a dramatically situated one-street town under a pretty forget-
tablechurch—allbecauseofacrudelittle thousand-year-oldblackstatueoftheVir-
gin Mary.
Of France's roughly 200 “Black Virgins,” this was perhaps the most venerated.
Black Virgins date to the end of the pagan era—when Europe was forcefully being
Christianized. In Europe's pagan religions, black typically symbolized fertility and
motherhood. For newly converted (and still reluctant) pagans, it was easier to em-
brace the Virgin if she was black.
Athousandyearsago,manyEuropeans expected theworldtoend,andpilgrim-
ages became immensely popular. About that time, the first pilgrims came here—to
a little cave in a cliff over a gorge created by the Alzou River—to pray to a crude
statueofaBlackVirgin.Then,in1166,aremarkablyintactbodywasfoundbeneath
the threshold of the troglodyte chapel. People assumed this could only be a her-
mit (certainly a saintly hermit) who had lived in this cave. He was given the name
Amadour (servant of Mary), and the place was named Rocamadour (the rock of the
servant of Mary).
Suddenly, this humble site was on the map. The Benedictines moved in to de-
velopthespot,buildingachurchoverthecave.LikeMontSt-Michel,asingle-street
