Cathédrale Saint-Sacerdos de Sarlat

Sarlat-la-Canéda

A former Benedictine abbey founded in the 9th century under the reign of Pepin I of Aquitaine, it became a cathedral in 1317 when Pope John XXII, a former bishop of Cahors, created the diocese of Sarlat in the aftermath of the royal armies' victory over the Albigensian Cathars. An ambitious rebuilding was launched in 1504 by Bishop Armand de Gontaud-Biron, but the money ran out: only the choir was completed, leaving the new nave and the old Romanesque porch-tower entirely detached from one another for... a hundred and fifty years. The relics of Saint Sacerdos, bishop of Limoges and born a few kilometres away, had meanwhile disappeared, carried off during the Wars of Religion.

Getting there : Free admission

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

Ambient sound