Lourdes Attractions

Lourdes, beautifully situated on both banks of the Gave de Pau on the northern fringe of the Pyrenees, is the summer residence of the bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes and a famous place of pilgrimage. The impression which Lourdes makes on a visitor will inevitably depend on his attitude to the pilgrimages which bring millions of believers to Lourdes every year. As a place of pilgrimage Lourdes owes its fame to the appearances of the Virgin to a shepherd girl named Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879) in the nearby Grotte de Massabielle on the Gave de Pau, and to the spring found by Bernadette in the cave whose water is credited with healing qualities.