Catholic shrines in southwest France

• ConquesThe Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy. Conques, on the road to Compostela, where the abbey church of Sainte-Foy has kept the relics of Saint Faith since the ninth century.
• RocamadourThe Shrine of Our Lady of Rocamadour. Rocamadour, on its cliff above the Alzou, where pilgrims climb the great stairway to the Black Madonna of the chapel of Notre-Dame.
• LourdesThe Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. Lourdes, where Our Lady appeared to Bernadette in the grotto of Massabielle in 1858. Millions of pilgrims come each year, many of them sick.
• ProuilheThe Monastery of Notre-Dame de Prouilhe. The monastery of Prouilhe, the first house of Saint Dominic in 1206, where Dominican nuns pray and where tradition places the rosary.
• AubracThe Dômerie of Aubrac. The Dômerie of Aubrac, the medieval hospital that sheltered pilgrims to Compostela on the high plateau, and its pilgrims’ church.
• FigeacThe Abbey Church of Saint-Sauveur. Figeac on the road to Compostela, with its abbey church of Saint-Sauveur and the house where Champollion was born.
• CahorsThe Cathedral of Saint-Étienne. The cathedral of Cahors with its domes, the relic of the Holy Coif, and the Valentré bridge on the road to Compostela.
• MoissacThe Abbey of Saint-Pierre of Moissac. The abbey of Moissac on the road to Compostela, with its cloister finished in 1100 and the tympanum of Christ among the twenty-four elders.
• ToulouseSaint-Sernin and the Jacobins. Toulouse, where Saint Dominic founded his order, with the basilica of Saint-Sernin and the tomb of Saint Thomas Aquinas at the Jacobins.
• AlbiThe Cathedral of Sainte-Cécile. The brick cathedral of Sainte-Cécile at Albi, with its painted vaults, its great Last Judgment and its carved choir enclosure.
• FanjeauxThe House of Saint Dominic. Fanjeaux, the hill village where Saint Dominic lived from 1206 to 1215, with his house and the Seignadou above Prouilhe.
• CarcassonneThe Basilica of Saint-Nazaire. Carcassonne, its walled city restored by Viollet-le-Duc and the basilica of Saint-Nazaire, where Saint Dominic preached in 1213.

Saint Faith, Saint Dominic, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Bernadette Soubirous.

• Via GratiaeThe Great Shrines of France. Thirteen days from Notre-Dame de Paris to the grotto of Lourdes, through the great shrines of France.
• Via ImmaculataeThe Way of the Immaculate. Ten days through the places of the apparitions, from the rue du Bac to Lourdes.
• Via ConchaeThe Way of the Shell. Eight days on the Le Puy route to Compostela, with six stages on foot.
• Via DominiciThe Way of Saint Dominic. Seven days with Saint Dominic in the Languedoc, from Toulouse, where his order was born, to Prouilhe and Carcassonne.