In the 11th century, a local knight by the name of Géraud de Graves set off on his first crusade. Caught in an ambush, he vowed to devote his life to the Virgin if he survived. He survived and retired to Verdelais, where he led a hermit's life. He had a small oratory built with a statue of the Virgin modelled on the one he had seen in Bethlehem. On his death in 1159, the local lords, anxious to ensure the survival of the cult, brought in religious from Limoges: the Grandmontains. Legend has it that it was in the 12th century that the Countess of Foix found the statue, which had been hidden by the peasants to escape desecration, under the step of her mule. Dating from the 14th century, this polychrome wooden Virgin and Child, nicknamed the Red Virgin, is reputed to be miraculous. Visible in the basilica, the Virgin's niche is set in a beautiful gold-accented red marble altarpiece adorned with six marble columns. Verdelais thus became the Gironde's most important pilgrimage center. It was supported by religious orders, first the Grandmontains, then the Célestins, then the Marists and today the Passionists. The village has preserved a remarkable array of 19th-century facades, including the remains of the hotels that welcomed the many pilgrims. The Célestin cloister is now occupied by administrative offices. The painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who died at the age of 37 in his neighboring château (Château de Malromé in Saint-André-des-Bois), is buried in the Verdelais cemetery.

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