Sanctuaire Notre-Dame-de-Fontpeyrine

Tursac

Nestled on the side of a wooded hill overlooking the Vézère, not far from the château de Commarque already in the app, this sanctuary takes its name from the Latin Fons peregrinorum (the pilgrims' spring) or Fons petrosus (the petrifying spring). Tradition tells that the spring gushed forth at the very moment a miraculous statue of the Virgin was discovered: carried to the neighbouring parish church, the statue is said to have mysteriously returned on its own, several times over, to its original spring, forcing the inhabitants to accept that it should stay where it was. A tiny vaulted oratory was then built directly above the spring to shelter it, a few metres from a larger chapel. A hawthorn grows naturally with its feet in the water of the spring, a tree that Christian tradition associates with the Virgin and regards as a further sign of the sacred character of the place. Tradition relates that a shepherd (or an ox, depending on the version) was guided to a miraculous statue of Mary found in the spring; a pilgrimage on 2 July has commemorated since the 18th century a devastating storm that is said to have spared the region.

Getting there : Free access

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

Ambient sound