Heiressesof a prestigious past

The churches of Figeac

One is installed in the heart of the city, in the lower town, and plunges us into the origins of the foundation of Figeac, the other, from its square, dominates the city and offers us a magnificent view of a red sea of tiles and the surrounding countryside. The Saint-Sauveur Abbey and Notre-Dame-Du-Puy, the two major churches of Figeac, have watched over the city for centuries.

Saint-Sauveur,

a monumental abbey church

As a must-see figure in the historic center, the largest church in Figeac tells us the story of the city’s founding. It was here in 838, that Benedictine monks from Conques founded an abbey on the current site of the church.

Similar in size to its mother abbey Sainte-Foy de Conques, the parish church hosted the prayers of the monks and the devotions of many Perlesians in the Middle Ages. An architectural millefeuille marked mainly by Romanesque artand Gothic art offers us emblematic elements such as sumptuous Romanesque capitals of the eleventh century or aChapter Hall of the thirteenth century, Our Lady of Mercy, adorned with a majestic baroque decor.

In the Middle Ages, Saint-Sauveur seeks to become a great shrine of pilgrimage. The monks of Figeac took advantage of the threat of the Normans to transfer the relics of a bishop of the city of Saintes, St. Vivien. Its wide architecture allows the faithful to circulate and approach the tombs of the saints. The offerings of the pilgrims contribute to the construction of a vast monastery.

The time of the Wars of Religion, however, is fatal to the Figeac pilgrimages. The community life of the monks was abandoned and Figeac, taken by the Protestants in 1576, saw the disappearance of its relics, the works of art that housed them, and several buildings of the abbey.

Notre-Dame-Du-Puy

and its baroque altarpiece

This church is probably the oldest place of worship in the city, a Marian chapel having perhaps been founded on this site before the creation of the Abbey of Saint-Sauveur. The present church dates from the 13th century, but was almost entirely rebuilt after the Wars of Religion. In the 16th century, the Protestants had established a citadel here to control the town. After retaking Figeac, the Catholics dismantled the citadel and rebuilt the church.

Inside, the monumental altarpiece dedicated to the Virgin is the largest Baroque altarpiece in Lot. Dated to the late seventeenth century, this vast altarpiece of carved walnut wood, frames two paintings dedicated to the Virgin: The Assumption, signed in 1683 by Jean Lofficial, a Figeac artist, and the Coronation of the Virgin, whose author remains unknown.

Discover Figeac

from the orientation table

From the square in front of the Notre-Dame-du-Puy church, you can discover the city’s districts.

Are you accompanying your parents with the The Keys to Figeac? Then unfold Kids Keys and replace yourself as pictured!

The children's keys

Treasures to discover

A MUST SEE

At Saint-Sauveur

The Notre-Dame-de-Pitié Chapel: this former chapter house of the Saint-Sauveur abbey is adorned with 17th-century carved panels depicting the Passion of Christ.
Go in search of the chapel dedicated to St. Eutrope, the first bishop of Saintes in the third century. This prestigious saint, evangelizer of Gaul and healer of the infirm, is very popular in western France.

At Notre-Dame-Du-Puy

The magnificent baroque walnut altarpiece that adorns the choir of Notre-Dame-Du-Puy: a vast two-tiered construction, it extends laterally to encompass the pillars of the collateral.
Notre-Dame la Fleurie, a statuette of the Virgin and Child dating from the seventeenth century, referring to a miraculous story that a chapel would have been built on this site following the blooming of a tree in winter
St. James the Greater, to whom a brotherhood was attached
A collection of processional staffs, carried by brotherhoods through the streets of the city during religious festivals

1200 YEARS OF PILGRIMAGE IN FIGEAC

Since the Middle Ages, Figeac has been a center of pilgrimage thanks to relics venerated within the Saint-Sauveur monastery. While the abbey church welcomes many pilgrims, other religious sites in the town are the focus of more local devotions…

Marial chapels

Many chapels and oratories have dotted the Figeac countryside since the Middle Ages, such as Notre-Dame de la Capelette or Notre-Dame-de-la-Compassion. These nineteenth-century chapels are witnesses to Marian devotions that were practiced at the gates of the city.