Lanterne des Morts

Sarlat-la-Canéda


The Lanterne des Morts is a dramatic monument – it's shaped like a giant rocket – that was built to honour a visit by St Bernard, one of the founders of the Cistercian order, in 1147.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Sarlat-la-Canéda attractions

1. Jardin des Enfeus

0.02 MILES

Behind the cathedral, the Jardin des Enfeus was Sarlat’s first cemetery. The rocket-shaped Lanterne des Morts may have been built to honour a visit by St…

2. Chapelle St-Benoît

0.03 MILES

A passage from Cour des Chanoines leads to the Chapelle St-Benoît, aka Chapelle des Pénitents Bleus, a 12th-century Romanesque chapel and the oldest…

3. Cour des Chanoines

0.04 MILES

This attractive medieval courtyard can be reached via an alleyway off rue Tourny or from the Jardin des Enfeus. The passage from Cour des Chanoines leads…

4. Cathédrale St-Sacerdos

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Once part of Sarlat’s Cluniac abbey, the original abbey church was built in the 1100s, redeveloped in the early 1500s, and remodelled again in the 1700s,…

5. Cour des Fontaines

0.06 MILES

Appropriate to its name this picturesque medieval courtyard contains a bubbling fountain. You can find it down an alleyway off rue Tourny or reach it from…

6. Maison de la Boétie

0.06 MILES

This striking 16th-century Italian Renaissance–style house opposite Cathédrale St-Sacerdos is the birthplace of writer Étienne de la Boétie (1530–63).

7. Weekly Markets

0.07 MILES

For an introductory French market experience, visit Sarlat’s heavily touristed Saturday market, which takes over the streets around Cathédrale St-Sacerdos…