Page 426 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

2 The château stands
ROCAMADOUR fort that protected
on the site of a
the sanctuary
from the west.
! D5 ⌂ Lot £ 5 km (3 miles) SW of Rocamadour
# Chapel of Notre-Dame: 9am–6:30pm daily
(to 9pm Jun–Sep) n L’Hospitalet, Cour du Prieuré;
EXPERIENCE The Dordogne on the Way of St James, is best known
05 65 33 22 00; www.vallee-dordogne.com
Rocamadour, a famous pilgrimage site
for its Cité Réligieuse, accessed via the
Grand Escalier staircase.

The Sanctuary at Rocamadour first attracted
pilgrims following a series of miracles – each
one heralded by the ringing of the bell in the Chapel
of Notre-Dame. This was followed by the discovery in 1166 of
an ancient grave con taining an undecayed body, said to be
that of the early Christian hermit St Amadour. Although the
town suffered with the decline of pilgrimages in the 17th and
18th centuries, it was heavily restored in the 19th century. The
best views of the town are to be had from the ramparts of the
château, reached from the hamlet of L’Hospitalet.

St Michael’s Chapel
INSIDER TIP contains well-
Ascenseur preserved 12th-
There is a lift dug into century frescoes.
the rock face, which
ascends (for a fee) from
the base of the town to
the sanctuaries and The Tomb of St
chapels that form the Amadour once held
Cité Religieuse, though the body of the hermit
it does not go to the from whom the town
château at the top. took its name.

Pilgrims would climb
this broad flight of
steps on their knees
as a penance.

The spectacular town of
Rocamadour lit up at night
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