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ROCAMADOUR

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Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 425 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ROCAMADOUR , a See also:

village of See also:south-western See also:France, in the See also:department of See also:Lot, 36 m. N.N.E. of See also:Cahors by road. Pop. (1906) 296. Rocamadour, a famous See also:place of See also:pilgrimage, is most strikingly situated. Its buildings rise in stages up the See also:side of a cliff on the right See also:bank of the Alzou, which here runs between rocky walls 400 ft. in height. Flights of steps ascend from the See also:lower See also:town to the churches—a See also:group of massive buildings See also:half-way up the cliff. The See also:chief of them is the See also:church of Notre-See also:Dame (1479), containing the wooden figure of the Madonna reputed to have been carved by St Amadour. The church opens on to a See also:terrace called the See also:Plateau of St See also:Michel, where there is a broken See also:sword said to be a fragment of " Durandal," once wielded by the See also:hero See also:Roland. The interior walls of the church of St Sauveur are covered with paintings and See also:inscriptions recalling the pilgrimages of celebrated persons. The subterranean church of St Amadour (1166) extends beneath St Sauveur and contains See also:relics of the See also:saint. On the See also:summit' of the cliff stands the See also:chateau built in the See also:middle ages to defend the sanctuaries.

Rocamadour owes its origin to St Amadour or See also:

Amateur, who, according to tradition, See also:chose the place as a hermitage for his devotions to the Virgin See also:Mary. The saint is identified with Zacchaeus the publican and See also:disciple of Jesus, who is said to have journeyed to See also:Gaul to preach the See also:gospel. The renown of Rocamadour as a place of pilgrimage See also:dates from the See also:early middle ages.

End of Article: ROCAMADOUR

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