The commune of Rocamadour is said to have been named after Saint Amator, who is believed to have been the founder of the ancient sanctuary.
The crypt Saint-Amadour is situated here.
 The church of Notre Dame (1479) contains a wooden Black Madonna reputed to have been carved by Amator.

Amadour was identified with the Biblical Zacheus, the tax collector of Jericho mentioned in Luke 19:1-10.
He is also thought to have been a servant in the house of the Holy Family, who married St. Veronica, who wiped Jesus' face on the way to Calvary.
Driven out of Palestine by persecution, Amadour and Veronica embarked in a frail skiff and, guided by an angel, landed on the coast of Aquitaine, where they met Bishop St. Martial, who was preaching the Gospel in the south-west of Gaul.
 After journeying to Rome, where he witnessed the martyrdoms of St. Peter and St. Paul, Amadour, having returned to France, on the death of his spouse, withdrew to a wild spot in Quercy where he built a chapel in honour of the Blessed Virgin, near which he died a little later.

Amator's Acts cannot be dated as being older than the 12th century.
It is now well established that St. Martial, Amadour's contemporary in the legend, lived in the 3rd not the 1st century, and Rome has never included him among the members of the Apostolic College.
The untrustworthiness of the legend has led some recent authors to suggest that Amadour was an unknown hermit or the actual bishop of Auxerre of the same name.
The commune of Rocamadour is said to have been named after Saint Amator, who is believed to have been the founder of the ancient sanctuary. The crypt Saint-Amadour is situated here.  The church of Notre Dame (1479) contains a wooden Black Madonna reputed to have been carved by Amator.
Amadour was identified with the Biblical Zacheus, the tax collector of Jericho mentioned in Luke 19:1-10. He is also thought to have been a servant in the house of the Holy Family, who married St. Veronica, who wiped Jesus' face on the way to Calvary. Driven out of Palestine by persecution, Amadour and Veronica embarked in a frail skiff and, guided by an angel, landed on the coast of Aquitaine, where they met Bishop St. Martial, who was preaching the Gospel in the south-west of Gaul.  After journeying to Rome, where he witnessed the martyrdoms of St. Peter and St. Paul, Amadour, having returned to France, on the death of his spouse, withdrew to a wild spot in Quercy where he built a chapel in honour of the Blessed Virgin, near which he died a little later.
Amator's Acts cannot be dated as being older than the 12th century. It is now well established that St. Martial, Amadour's contemporary in the legend, lived in the 3rd not the 1st century, and Rome has never included him among the members of the Apostolic College. The untrustworthiness of the legend has led some recent authors to suggest that Amadour was an unknown hermit or the actual bishop of Auxerre of the same name.
Amator