May 22 - Visit to Rocamadour

A mid-afternoon arrival in Rocamdour afforded us some spectacular views of this famous village built right into the cliffs where during the upper paleolithic age the rock caves served as a home for early humans.  The description of the hotel (Sainte Marie) had promised we would be halfway up the cliffs that support this village.  Yet, as I took the tiny (read, narrow), unpaved road, it looked as if we would be right at the bottom of the cliff.  I drove in first gear and soon the hairpin turns appeared.  I went about 10 k an hour and held my breath as I went around every turn.  I began to wonder how many years of my life would be chopped off due to stress in driving these French "country road".  Fortunately, we met no cars on the way up but when we arrived at a small parking (big enough for only four cars) there was only one space left!  We locked the car walked toward what we hoped would be the location of the hotel.

Sure enough, we arrived at a little square and there on the left the sign said "Hotel Snte. Marie".  We went up to the door, rang, and then from behind us in the tiny cafe outside there came a voice announcing that the entrance to the Hotel proper was there behind the cafe.  Seems we were the only guests that night (the main reason for traveling in May).  This is an old hotel, part of it built right into the rock (a part added in the 19th century - used as an annex for groups).  The family that owns the hotel are descendants of the owner from the hotel's earliest days.

Rocamadour is well known as a stopover for pilgrimages in the early Christian era, dedicated at first to the worship of Mary.  A modest oratory was built there.  Four hospitals were later built to accommodate the pilgrims during the Middle Ages.  Kneeling down to pray on each step of the "great stairway" was part of the pilgrimage process.

The site became famous all over Europe due to the efforts of Abbot Geraud (about whom I could find nothing on the net).  It seems (travel brochure) that from 1152 the Abbot aroused great interest and churches were built in the cave.  In 1166, the body of an early hermit (Amadour) was found and from 1172, 126 miracles have been recorded.  The devotion to Saint Amadour was born and added to the worship of Mary but it never supplanted it.

The fortified houses, located on the valley side, constituted ramparts against various attacks and wars that ravaged the area.  In the 16th century the religious wars were particularly harmful in Rocamadour.  In 1562, the war leaders of Bessonie and Marchastel plundered the place and destroyed the body of Amadour and the religious furniture.  Society evolved and the major pilgrimages were abandoned.

In the 19th century, thanks to the Bishop of Cahor and Abbot Chevalt, Rocamadour came back to life and was restored in the spirit of its time, expressing a romantic fascination for the Middle-Ages (lFrench literature - Viollet le Duc, Prosper Merimee, Victor Hugo).

The economical impact of pilgrimages provided facilities for and pathways used by travelers.  Today the village is alive because the modern tourists who have profoundly shaped this rural environment.  Certainly this is true of the many "Beautiful villages" of France, as the French have, in the past 20 years taken very good care of their (Patrimoine) - cultural heritage.

Understanding the history of Rocamadour is also discovering this wider territory known as the attic of the Marial City.  Enriched by a fantastic inheritance and a know-how is still very present:  twelve water mills on the Ouysse and the Alzou rivers (the mill of Cougnaguet still is in working order and the mill of Caoulet still lived in).  Traces of Cistercian barns remain in the hamlets of Alix and Pannonie.  Along the paths, hikers can still drink from the same fountains the pilgrims used in the 12th century,

We unfortunately did not do any hiking to see these more rural places, although this village actually is in a remote place, peopled year-round by only 60 families, we learned from our hotel owner who is a descendant of the early 19th owner.  They must be rather large families as the figure on the net about Rocamadour's population sets it at about 600 people.

Rocamadour has, for better or for worse, become a real tourist trap.  There is no question that from afar (the entrance to Rodamdour shows the stunning site of this village built, literally, into the rocks), Rocamdour presents a view that one would love find every day upon arising.  But actually living in such a place means that one can stay there thanks alone to the modern "pilgrims" (the tourists).  This is my second visit to Rocamadour, and should I return, I would like to return on foot to see those fountains from which the pilgrims of the 19th century drank.

From Hosptitalet (across the valley from the cliffs of Rocamadour)

Looking up from the hotel

The view of the valley inside our hotel room

Looking up from the cliff outside in the square in front of the hotel

Cafe in front of our hotel (left); right looking up from the cafe

Looking back at where the car is parked (not the car in the foreground).  The little four-car spaces are found just beyond the people in the background

 Stairs leading up to the church built into the rock

Modern pilgrim

Church

A sinuous trail leading up to the ramparts - we didn't go all the way

Looking across the valley to Hospitalet

An elevator takes one down to the center of the town

Modern tourist - resting

After the rest, we took the car out of its tiny parking area back up to Hospitalet to eat dinner facing the town of Rocamadour

Next to the little stone house, a WWII truck was parked

We also visited a cemetery, looking quite different from those in the States

Here is an example of the flat tiles used for roofs as well as the beautiful stone drywalls that are found in many of the small towns

Here is a picture of the baloon that sailed past our hotel window the next morning.