Basilique et sanctuaire Saint-Régis de Lalouvesc

Lalouvesc

In the winter of 1640, an exhausted Jesuit struggled through the snowdrifts to come and preach a mission in this high-perched hamlet of the Vivarais. Jean-François Régis (John Francis Regis), missionary of the Cévennes and the Velay, defender of the poor and of the lacemakers of Le Puy, died here of pleurisy on 31 December, after murmuring, according to the account of his companion Brother Bideau: "I see Our Lord and Our Lady opening paradise to me." The villagers refused to give up the body: the saint stayed at Lalouvesc, and the whole village grew up around his tomb. Canonised in 1737, "Saint Régis" has drawn an unbroken stream of pilgrims for more than three centuries — it is the most important pilgrimage in the Ardèche, recognised as a "sanctuary town". In the 19th century, Pierre Bossan, the future architect of Fourvière, raised above the relics a neo-Byzantine basilica of granite, whose stained glass by Lucien Bégule recounts the life of the saint; the crypt preserves the original tomb, covered with ex-votos. The place has given rise to other destinies: in 1826, Thérèse Couderc, a young Ardèche peasant girl who became a saint, founded here the congregation of the Cenacle to lodge women pilgrims; she now rests in the basilica. One also visits the chapel of Saint-Régis, built on the site of the house where he died, and the spring whose water is reputed, by tradition, to bring graces. All around, the fir trees and the panoramas of the upper Vivarais make the climb to Lalouvesc a small pilgrimage in itself.

Getting there : Village of Lalouvesc (07520), in the Ardèche verte, by the D532/D236 from Annonay or Saint-Félicien. Basilica open during the day, major pilgrimages around 16 June (feast of Saint Régis) and 15 August; coordinates at the centre of the village, where the basilica stands.

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

Ambient sound