Rocamadour

Rocamadour mini guide

Rocamadour is a magical town with golden houses clinging to the side of a cliff over the Alzou canyon, it is a holy shrine, and a must see attraction due to its unique location / character. Situated in east Dordogne, about 50km from Sarlat.

The buildings of Rocamadour rise in stages up the side of a cliff on the right bank of the Alzou, which here runs between rocky walls 400 ft. in height. Flights of steps ascend from the lower town to the churches, a group of massive buildings half-way up the cliff. The chief of them is the church of Notre Dame (1479), containing a wooden Black Madonna reputed to have been carved by St Amadour. The church opens on to a terrace called the Plateau of St Michel, where there is a broken sword said to be a fragment of Durandal, once wielded by the hero Roland. The interior walls of the church of St Sauveur are covered, with paintings and inscriptions recalling the pilgrimages of celebrated persons. The subterranean church of St Amadour (1166) extends beneath St Sauveur and contains relics of the saint. On the summit of the cliff stands the château built in the Middle Ages to defend the sanctuaries.

The town also gives its name to Rocamadour, a small goat's milk cheese that was awarded AOC status in 1996.