Sainte Marie

A lovely little place I was glad to discover.

There’s a welcome bit of shade from the summer heat at Fontaine Sainte-Marie, tucked into a natural grotto at 13 rue des Consuls in the centre of town. The spring once supplied the secular part of Sarlat, and for a long time it was the city’s drinking water source. In the 19th century, houses and stables above the grotto made the water unfit to drink, so the fountain was walled up. It finally reopened to the public in 1970. The site goes back to the 12th century. During the plague of 1279, around 2,500 people, about half the population, died. People in Sarlat held a procession to the Church of Sainte-Marie and prayed to the Virgin Mary. The plague then receded, whether by miracle or not, and the townspeople placed Marian niches around the city in thanks and for protection. One is at the bottom of the spring, which is how the fountain got its name.

For a long time this was Sarlat’s only water source. When the plague reached the town in 1279, the people of Sarlat went in procession to the Church of Sainte-Marie and prayed to the Virgin Mary. The plague later receded, and the fountain’s name comes from the people’s gratitude to her.

Right in the heart of Sarlat, this beautiful historic fountain is a charming spot and well worth seeing.