Gorge & Canyon Villages

Set at the mouth of the Verdon Gorge, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie has been a center of faience pottery production since the 17th century.

Rocamadour in the Lot climbs 120 m of limestone cliff in three tiers — a major medieval pilgrimage site housing the Black Madonna since the 12th century.

Saint-Cirq-Lapopie in the Lot perches 100 m above the river on a cliff — André Breton's adopted village and France's TV-voted favourite in 2012.

Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert grew up around the 9th-century Abbey of Gellone, a stop on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela that earned the abbey its place on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Alquézar in Huesca sits on a limestone spur above the Río Vero canyon, its name from the Arabic al qasr, with a Collegiate church founded in 1099.

Setenil de las Bodegas is built directly under and into overhanging rock along the Rio Trejo canyon, with entire streets sheltered by stone ceilings rather than open sky.