Elevated to a basilica from 1914, Notre-Dame-de-l'Épine takes its name from the devotion given to a statue of the Virgin holding the Child Jesus.

According to a legend from the 17th century that has since evolved, the statue was found by shepherds in the Middle Ages in a burning thorn bush.

[2] In 1998 it was registered on the World Heritage List by UNESCO under the title of "roads to St Jacques de Compostela in France".

Inside is a rood screen of the late 15th century, whose right arcade houses the statue of the Virgin for which this basilica is famous.

The tribune is decorated with eight apostles and seven pagan gods (inscriptions added in 1825 by Father Brisson).