Lourdes - Massabielle Cave

(Local Name: Grotte de Massabielle) In Lourdes, on each side of the Esplanade du Rosaire a ramp leads up to the neo- Gothic Upper Basilica (Basilique Supérieure), built in 1864-1871 (consecrated 1876) on the summit of the crag containing the cave of Massabielle. It has a 70 m/230ft high tower. In the interior are innumerable ex-votos. Under the church is a large crypt. Under the Upper Basilica, to the north, is the Grotte de Massabielle, a cave measuring 12 m/40ft by 10 m/33ft. In the niche marking the spot where the Virgin appeared to Bernadette is a marble figure of the Virgin by the Lyons sculptor Fabisch (1863), based on Bernadette's description of her.

From the Basilica a Way of the Cross