Just a stone's throw from Rocamadour, Martel, Souillac, the Gouffre de Padirac, ... nestled in the rocks along the Dordogne valley, Gluges and its heritage are well worth a visit.
Its oldest church, which can no longer be visited, and a second, much more modern church built into the rock. The first is said to have been built by Gaillard, Seigneur de Mirandol, to hide relics brought back from the Holy Land between the 11th and 12th centuries.
Unused since 1858, it was vandalized and ransacked in 1977.
A specialist magazine had produced a dossier on France's hidden treasures," explains Claude Amartin. Gluges was mentioned. A few days later, the monument was visited. The ground was turned over, in search of any treasure, which of course didn't exist. The only jewel here is architectural. Two candlesticks, a crucifixion and the communion table were saved from the ransacking.
Edith Piaf loved to worship here
The new church welcomed a special devotee. Edith Piaf used to worship here. She loved this place so much that she gave the means to redo all the stained-glass windows in the building, but on one condition: "that no one should know about it while she was alive!
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