The pilgrimage Rocamadour

Saturday, 15 August 2015 - 01:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General, UNESCO World Heritage
Reading Time:  5 minutes

© François Darras

© François Darras

Rocamadour is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France. It lies in the former province of Quercy. Rocamadour has attracted visitors for its setting in a gorge above a tributary of the River Dordogne, and especially for its historical monuments and its sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which for centuries has attracted pilgrims from every country, among them kings, bishops, and nobles. The town below the complex of monastic buildings and pilgrimage churches, traditionally dependent on the pilgrimage site and now on the tourist trade, lies near the river on the lowest slopes; it gives its name to Rocamadour, a small goat’s milk cheese that was awarded AOC status in 1996.

Rocamadour is classed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO as part of the St James’ Way pilgrimage route. Rocamadour was a dependency of the abbey of Tulle to the north in the Bas Limousin. The buildings of Rocamadour (from ròca, cliff, and sant Amador) rise in stages up the side of a cliff on the right bank of the Alzou, which here runs between rocky walls 120 metres (390 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 pilgrimage church of Notre Dame (rebuilt in its present configuration from 1479), containing the cult image at the center of the site’s draw, a wooden Black Madonna reputed to have been carved by Saint Amator (Amadour) himself.

© Patrick Clenet © Eric Gaba/cc-by-sa-1.0 © Patrick Clenet © Patrick Clenet Le Sanctuaire © Patrick Clenet © François Darras
<
>
Le Sanctuaire © Patrick Clenet
The small Benedictine community continued to reserve to itself the use of the small twelfth-century church of Saint-Michel, above and to the side. Below, the pilgrimage church opens onto a terrace where pilgrims could assemble, 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.

A legend supposed to explain the origin of this pilgrimage has given rise to controversies between critical and traditional schools, especially in recent times. A vehicle by which the legend was disseminated and pilgrims drawn to the site was The Miracles of Our Lady of Rocamadour, written ca. 1172, an example of the miracula, or books of collected miracles, which had such a wide audience in the Middle Ages. According to the founding legend, Rocamadour is named after the founder of the ancient sanctuary, Saint Amator, identified with the Biblical Zacchaeus, the tax collector of Jericho mentioned in Luke 19:1-10, and the husband of St. Veronica, who wiped Jesus’ face on the way to Calvary. Driven out of Palestine by persecution, St. Amadour and Veronica embarked in a frail skiff and, guided by an angel, landed on the coast of Aquitaine, where they met Bishop St. Martial, another disciple of Christ who was preaching the Gospel in the south-west of Gaul. After journeying to Rome, where he witnessed the martyrdoms of St. Peter and St. Paul, Amadour, having returned to France, on the death of his spouse, withdrew to a wild spot in Quercy where he built a chapel in honour of the Blessed Virgin, near which he died a little later.

Read more on Rocamadour, vallee-dordogne.com – Rocamadour, france-voyage.com – Rocamadour and Wikipedia Rocamadour. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




Recommended posts:

Share this post: (Please note data protection regulations before using buttons)

Theme Week Laos - Pakse

Theme Week Laos - Pakse

[caption id="attachment_213848" align="aligncenter" width="590"] River bank of Don Khon with stilt wooden houses and leaning Arecaceae at golden hour from Don Det© Basile Morin/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Pakse is the capi...

[ read more ]

Far Breton

Far Breton

[caption id="attachment_242802" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Arnaud 25/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Far breton (Breton pancake or prune cake) is a compact, pudding-like cake. Along with crêpes, galettes and kouign am...

[ read more ]

Spirit of Queensland

Spirit of Queensland

[caption id="attachment_246176" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © John Robert McPherson/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Spirit of Queensland is a Queensland Rail long distance passenger rail service. It is operated by a d...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Paraguay - Asunción

Theme Week Paraguay - Asunción

[caption id="attachment_184007" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Calle Palma © Bruno Arriola/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay. The city is located on the left bank of the Pa...

[ read more ]

Carmel Market in Tel Aviv

Carmel Market in Tel Aviv

[caption id="attachment_237108" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Olives © Laliv Gal/cc-by-2.5[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Carmel Market (Hebrew: Shuk HaCarmel) is an outdoor marketplace in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Carmel market was establ...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Ukraine - Donetsk in eastern Ukraine

Theme Week Ukraine - Donetsk in eastern Ukraine

[caption id="attachment_160985" align="aligncenter" width="590"] The Miner - Symbol of Donetsk © Brücke-Osteuropa[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Donetsk (former names: Yuzovka, Stalino) is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine on the Kal...

[ read more ]

Ciudad Bolívar in Venezuela

Ciudad Bolívar in Venezuela

[caption id="attachment_25683" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Ciudad Bolívar historical zone © Hiddendaemian/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Ciudad Bolívar is the capital of Venezuela's southeastern Bolívar State. It was ...

[ read more ]

The MSC Musica

The MSC Musica

[caption id="attachment_203459" align="aligncenter" width="590"] at Santorini, Greece © A. Stumpf/cc-by-sa-3.0-de[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The MSC Musica is a cruise ship belonging to MSC Cruises. It was christened in Venice by the ...

[ read more ]

Volgograd in southern Russia

Volgograd in southern Russia

[caption id="attachment_151735" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © www.volganet.ru/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Volgograd, formerly Tsaritsyn, 1589–1925, and Stalingrad, 1925–1961, is an important industrial city and th...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Venezuela - Caracas

Theme Week Venezuela - Caracas

[caption id="attachment_172185" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Caracas East © Schiskin[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Caracas, officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital, the center of the Greater Caracas Area, and the larg...

[ read more ]

Windermere in the Lake District

Windermere in the Lake District

[caption id="attachment_241763" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Looking over Windermere to the Langdale Pikes from Millerground © Ericoides/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Windermere (sometimes tautologically called Lake Wind...

[ read more ]

Bad Pyrmont in Lower Saxony

Bad Pyrmont in Lower Saxony

[caption id="attachment_161206" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Bad Pyrmont Castle © picasaweb.google.com / Hein[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Bad Pyrmont is a city in the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont with a population of 22,000. It is l...

[ read more ]

Return to TopReturn to Top