Fontaine miraculeuse et église Notre-Dame de Hautefage-la-Tour

Hautefage-la-Tour

Before it was a church, Hautefage was a spring. As early as the Middle Ages a simple devotional chapel rose above a fountain reputed to be miraculous, associated with a statue of a Black Madonna, and the sanctuary became famous enough to draw pilgrims from all over the kingdom. The water was believed to cure infertility: tradition relates that Anne de Beaujeu, daughter of Louis XI and regent of France, came to commend herself here after the loss of her only son, and gave birth to a daughter in May 1491. The pilgrims' gifts, including those of Alain d'Albret, paid for the building of the present church at the end of the 15th century, while the bishops of Agen of the della Rovere family, resident here between 1487 and 1538, raised the hexagonal tower that dominates the village. The Protestants sacked the village in 1561, and Bishop Nicolas de Villars consecrated the high altar and raised the church to parish status in 1595. A pastoral visitation of 1632 still describes the miraculous fountain flowing beneath the altar; the spring, which is said never to run dry, was re-channelled in 1993 and can now be seen across the street, beneath a cross. The church retains a timber roof 9 m high and a sanctuary vault carried by seven arches converging on a single keystone.

Fontaines de France - La fontaine miraculeuse d'Hautefage ↗

Getting there : Le Bourg, 47340 Hautefage-la-Tour, some fifteen kilometres north-east of Villeneuve-sur-Lot; the church and tower overlook the village, parking on site. The spring, channelled since 1993, now flows on the other side of the street in a stone structure fitted with an inspection hatch and topped by a cross, where the limestone concretions can be seen. Church and presbytery are registered as monuments historiques (historic monuments).

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound