Cité Religieuse

Cité Religieuse Review

The Basse Ville's Rue Piétonne, the main pedestrian street, is crammed with crêperies, tea salons, and hundreds of tourists, many of whom are heading heavenward by taking the Grand Escalier (staircase) or elevator (€2.40) from Place de la Carreta up to the Cité Religieuse, set halfway up the cliff. If you walk, pause at the landing 141 steps up to admire the fort. Once up, you can see tiny Place St-Amadour and its seven chapels: the basilica of St-Sauveur opposite the staircase; the St-Amadour crypt beneath the basilica; the chapel of Notre-Dame, with its statue of the Black Madonna, to the left; the chapels of John the Baptist, St-Blaise, and Ste-Anne to the right; and the Romanesque chapel of St-Michel built into an overhanging cliff. St-Michel's two 12th-century frescoes—depicting the Annunciation and the Visitation—have survived in superb condition.