Lourdes
Marian Shrine At The Grotto Of Massabielle, Where Bernadette Soubirous Reported Apparitions In 1858; One Of The Largest Catholic Pilgrimage Sites In The World, Visited By Millions A Year · Lourdes, Occitanie
Lourdes is a small town in the foothills of the Pyrenees that became one of the largest Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world after 1858, when a fourteen-year-old miller's daughter, Bernadette Soubirous, reported a series of apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the Grotto of Massabielle beside the river Gave de Pau. The sanctuary that grew around the grotto is a large walled domain with several churches stacked and spread along the river: the neo-Gothic upper basilica, the crypt, the Rosary Basilica with its mosaics, and the vast concrete underground basilica built in 1958. Millions of people come every year, many of them sick or disabled, travelling in organised diocesan pilgrimages with volunteer helpers. They pray at the grotto, drink and wash with the spring water, and walk in the evening candlelit procession. Entry to the sanctuary is free. The streets leading to it are lined with souvenir shops selling plastic Virgin-shaped bottles and rosaries, and the contrast surprises many visitors. Non-believers are welcome if they are respectful.
Sanctuaire Notre-Dame de Lourdes, 65100 Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrénées, Lourdes, Occitanie, France
The sanctuary domain is open every day of the year and entry is free. The gates open early in the morning and close late in the evening, while the Grotto itself stays accessible for most of the day and much of the night (confirm current gate hours). The main pilgrimage season runs roughly from April to October, when the full programme of daily Masses in several languages, the afternoon Blessed Sacrament procession and the evening torchlight Marian procession take place; the processions may be reduced or cancelled in heavy rain and are much smaller or absent in winter (confirm the season dates). International Masses in the underground basilica are usually held on Sundays and some weekdays in season. The baths (piscines) open only at set times of day with queues that can take hours in summer, and the way the water rite is carried out has changed in recent years (confirm). The big national and international pilgrimages, such as those around 15 August, 11 February and in spring, fill the town and its hotels; book well ahead then. In winter many hotels and shops close.