Basilique Notre-Dame-de-la-Fin-des-Terres

Soulac-sur-Mer

Tradition links the origin of the sanctuary to Saint Veronica, who came from Palestine in the 1st century with Saint Amadour and Saint Martial to evangelise the Médoc and the Bazadais; she is said to have raised here a modest oratory dedicated to the Virgin before dying at Soulac around the year 70. A Benedictine abbey rose in the 11th century, probably linked to the arrival of English pilgrims landing at Soulac on the road to Santiago de Compostela, and the present Romanesque church was completed in the early 12th century. Exposed to the winds and sands of the estuary, the building was gradually buried over the course of the 18th century, giving rise to its name of "Notre-Dame-de-la-Fin-des-Terres" (Our Lady of Land's End); it was not until the middle of the 19th century that a campaign of excavations freed it entirely from its shroud of sand. A listed historic monument, the basilica was inscribed in 1998 on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France, a rare witness to a Romanesque building that literally disappeared and then rose again from the ground.

Getting there : Place Aliénor d'Aquitaine, Soulac-sur-Mer, about 5 km from the Pointe de Grave; Soulac railway station; free admission, listed historic monument

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

Ambient sound