Grotte et source de Massabielle

Lourdes

On 25 February 1858, during her ninth apparition, Bernadette Soubirous reported that the "Lady" had asked her to go and drink at a spring and wash herself there; digging in the muddy floor of the grotto of Massabielle, the girl uncovered a trickle of water that quickly became an abundant spring, a karst resurgence flowing into the Gave de Pau. The Bishop of Tarbes, Mgr Bertrand-Sévère Laurence, bought the grotto from the commune of Lourdes in 1861 and had a marble statue of the Virgin erected there, inaugurated during a procession that gathered some 20,000 people. Now one of the principal places of Catholic pilgrimage in the world, the grotto has been listed as a monument historique (historic monument) since 21 September 1995. The water of the spring continues to be distributed free of charge to pilgrims from taps installed along the grotto.

Getting there : free access, in the heart of the sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, open all year round

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound