Taxi Bordeaux → Lourdes

Lourdes, a small town of 14,000 inhabitants nestled in the Gave de Pau valley at the foot of the Pyrenees, has become one of the world's greatest pilgrimage sites since the Marian apparitions of 1858. Each year, nearly 3.5 million pilgrims and visitors flock to the Sanctuaries of Our Lady of Lourdes, a vast 52-hectare domain along the Gave de Pau. At the heart of this sanctuary lies the Grotto of Massabielle, where young Bernadette Soubirous, aged 14, claimed to have seen eighteen apparitions of the Virgin Mary between 11 February and 16 July 1858. The spring flowing from the grotto is reputed miraculous: the Catholic Church has recognised 70 healings as miracles. Above the grotto rises the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (1876), in neo-Gothic style, topped by the Basilica of the Rosary (1889), on a Byzantine plan. The underground Basilica of Saint Pius X (1958), designed to hold 25,000 people, is one of the largest churches in the world. But Lourdes is not only about religion: the medieval castle overlooking the town houses the Pyrenean Museum, a remarkable collection of Pyrenean art and traditions. The Pic du Jer (948 m), accessible by a century-old funicular (1900), offers an exceptional 360° panorama of Lourdes, the Gaves valley and the Pyrenean chain. The town is France's second-largest hotel city after Paris, with over 140 hotels.