Fontaine Sainte-Marguerite de Javerlhac

Javerlhac-et-la-Chapelle-Saint-Robert

About 2 km north-west of Javerlhac, at the bottom of a small valley below a pond, a simple round hole about 80 cm wide and deep shelters the fontaine Sainte-Marguerite. According to a study by Jean Maudet published in the cahiers de la Chapelle-Saint-Robert, its cult has been attested for two or three centuries; the origin is perhaps medieval, even Gaulish. People came here to cure rheumatism, fears, rickets in children, facial pain and above all sterility. One had to drink the water, pray on the spot and at the church, then pay a small offering. The collective pilgrimages took place on Whit Monday and the Sunday following 29 August; most visits were individual, all year round. Maudet thinks the saint is Margaret of Antioch, patron of pregnant women in the Middle Ages, which would explain the fountain's speciality. According to local tradition, a farmer bothered by the pilgrims filled in the spring and then dug it again at the edge of the meadow, before dying soon after. In another version the fountain dried up, then welled up again at the neighbour's. Today, children's and women's cloths hung on the trees show that people still come.

Getting there: About 2 km north-west of Javerlhac, on the road to Varaignes, at the bottom of a small valley below a pond, in an unmaintained place overgrown with vegetation (condition described by the source, not verified on the spot). Approximate coordinates, calculated from this distance: the exact point was not found.

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

Ambient sound