Rocamadour

A pilgrimage sanctuary clinging to a sheer limestone cliff above the Alzou canyon, its stacked ensemble of medieval chapels, castle, and village rising in three vertical tiers from the valley floor. The ecclesiastical city reached its greatest importance in the twelfth century as a stop on the Santiago de Compostela route. The most dramatic viewpoint is from l'Hospitalet on the plateau opposite, which frames the entire cliff facade in a single composition.