Basilique Notre-Dame de Bon-Encontre

Bon-Encontre

In the early 16th century, a young shepherd is said to have noticed a bull kneeling before a bush, and there to have found a statuette of the Virgin and Child. Taken to his home, then shut away in a church and even in a tabernacle, the statuette, according to tradition, always returned to the bush — hence the name "Bon-Encontre" ("good encounter"). This recurrence is said to have convinced the church authorities to establish here, from the 16th century onwards, one of the major pilgrimages of south-west France.

Site officiel Notre-Dame de Bon-Encontre ↗

Getting there : Basilica open to the public; a Marian tradition still very much alive at Bon-Encontre, near Agen

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

Ambient sound