Notre-Dame de la Daurade

[1] During the 5th or 6th century a church was erected, decorated with golden mosaics; the current name derives from the antique name, “Deaurata”, (Latin: aura, gold).

Linguistic evidence from inscriptions that accompanied the mosaics suggest that the church was in use by the Visigoths, who adhered to Arian Christianity, before coming into Catholic hands following the Battle of Vouillé in 507.

After a period of decline starting in the 15th century, the basilica was demolished in 1761 to make way for the construction of Toulouse's riverside quays.

The original icon was stolen in the fifteenth century, and its first replacement was burned by Revolutionaries in 1799 on the Place du Capitole.

Blackened by the hosts of candles, the second Madonna has been known since the sixteenth century as Notre Dame La Noire.