​​​ Lost Paradises Travels - Europe  

​FRANCE - Perigord

Rocamadour

For nearly a thousand years, the narrow, lonely canyon of the Alzou river has been home to a cluster of buildings clinging to the rock half way up the sheer cliffs; and this improbable spot attracts millions of the faithful to the shrine of the Black Virgin of Rocamadour. From very early times, a chapel dedicated to Our Lady existed here, looked after by a few Benedictine monks, but it was only after the discovery of the perfectly-preserved body of Saint Amadour in 1166 that a pilgrimage began to develop.