Browse Black Madonnas
Anjony, France
Since nothing is related of her origin and she shares the geometric pattern of the robes of the much more famous Black Madonna of Le-Puy…
Bar-sur-Seine
Although Our Lady of the Oak is not actually called a Black Madonna, I include her in this index for two reasons…
Boulogne-sur-Mer
The Black Madonna of Boulogne-sur-mer miraculously appeared alone in a boat in 633 A.D. in France’s most important fishing harbor since Roman times. She has been stolen, mutilated, dragged through the mud, and burnt at the stake by the enemies of France and Catholicism, but she was always brought back to life by the devotion of her children.
Chatillon-sur-Seine
Although neither town, nor church, nor statue are beautiful, this plain, formerly Black Madonna became one of the most influential ones in Europe…
Clermont-Ferrand
Our Lady of the Good Death received her pitch-black coat of paint around 1830, but since she is an ancient Madonna she must have been quite dark already before that…
Clermont-Ferrand II
Many pilgrims came to the church in the Middle Ages to view the statue. Ean Begg mentions an ancient sacred well in the crypt and writes: "The present Virgin, an Oriental Vierge de Tendresse…
Dijon
The brown Lady of Good Hope was painted black in the 1500’s likely in order to gain power and prestige and draw more visitors to the city. It worked! She promptly responded with the sort of miracles Black Madonnas are famous for: chasing off foreign armies and such. Sadly in 1963 she was stripped of her dark paint and Black Madonna title. No more miracles have been recorded since then. Serves them right!
Douvres-la-Délivrande
Douvres-la-Délivrande is a small town of little more than 5000 inhabitants named for its Black Madonna…
Egliseneuve d'Entraigues
This Black Madonna's sacred water reputedly heals depression, languor, and apathy. It certainly lifted the spirits of our little group immediately…
Évrecy
Black Madonna near Evrecy, Normandy on the pilgrimage route from Caen to Mont Saint Michel, erected in 1871 by Madame de Bonnefons, lady of the nearby castle Champs Goubert, in thanksgiving that the village and castle were spared in the Prussian (German) invasion the year before.
Font-Romeu/Odeillo
Modern Font-Romeu is a rather unattractive ski resort, but with an ancient history. For more than a thousand years its fountain at the hermitage (l’Ermitage) above the town was a stop for pilgrims…
Guingamp
With its Black Madonna, labyrinth, and its legend of an ancient Black Madonna under the earth Guingamp, Brittany competed for centuries with Chartres, 400 km to the East. To this day it honors its Lady of Good Help with festivities known as ‘the Pardon of Our Lady’. Unlike in Chartres, there is no whitening the Black Madonna or covering the labyrinth with chairs or slacking off of devotion here!
Fontgombault
Our Lady's monastery goes back to a hermit by the name of Gombaud who lived in a cave on the site around the year 1000. This Black Madonna was originally known as…
Laghet
Miracle working Our Lady of Laghet near Nice and Monte-Carlo in a retreat center run by Catholic nuns. The dark copy in the crypt reminiscent of the original Black Madonna
La-Chapelle-Geneste
This Black Madonna sits enthroned above a globe (the earth), which is supported by the symbols of the four evangelists: an angel, a lion, an ox, and an eagle…
Le-Puy III
In 1844, this 17th century approximate copy of Our Lady of Le Puy was taken from another church to assume the empty throne and title of her burnt sister…
Le-Puy-en-Velay I and II
The story of this shrine in the Auvergne begins with stones, a dolmen, i.e. a Druidic stone altar. Since time immemorial stones had been associated with Goddess…
Liesse-Notre-Dame
Here is her legend as told on this Black Madonna’s parish website: It is the year 1110 A.D. three brothers from the diocese of Laon (17 km from Liesse-Notre-Dame) leave for the Holy Land…
