She was painted black in 1892 when the parish priest decided that a black Madonna would attract more pilgrims to his church. Some of his parishioners complained that their Virgin had been made into a…

Although neither town, nor church, nor statue are beautiful, this plain, formerly Black Madonna became one of the most influential ones in Europe…

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…

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…

The original Black Madonna of Cusset was found in the 10th century next to a spring of the local Benedictine nunnery that had been founded in 882…

Here is another whitened Madonna that must have been black once, since according to Ean Begg and many websites that seem to rely largely on his book she was once called Maureneta…

This Black Madonna is difficult to visit because her church is locked unless mass is being celebrated…

Douvres-la-Délivrande is a small town of little more than 5000 inhabitants named for its Black Madonna…

This Black Madonna's sacred water reputedly heals depression, languor, and apathy. It certainly lifted the spirits of our little group immediately…

This ‘Black Madonna’, as the locals still insist on calling her, was restored to her original colors in 2001. At that time, it turned out that she had been painted over five times…

This Madonna may be worth a visit if you are on the way to the famous 10th century Abbey of Saint Michel de Cuxa, which sports its own “Black Madonna”…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

This modern Black Madonna is inspired by Romanesque ones of the Auvergne such as Our Lady of Le Puy…

Our Lady of Marsat has been associated with the theme of light and darkness ever since the above mentioned St. Gregory of Tours recounted the following experience…

Since the end of the 13th century, this Black Virgin has been the object of fervent popular devotion during Candlemas week. Like any real Black Madonna she works miracles…