Lourdes, a thousand-year history

Discover Lourdes and its unique history, from Roman times to the siege of Charlemagne, which gave the town its coat of arms and its name. Lourdes is of course inseparable from Bernadette Soubirous and the eighteen apparitions of the Blessed Virgin at the grotto known as Massabielle, on the banks of the Gave river. On March 25th, 1858, the Virgin Mary revealed herself as the Immaculate Conception ! Thus began the incredible story of Bernadette, which was to transform Lourdes... and the whole world ! Reactions were all the stronger given the tense situation in France at the time between the state and the clergy. Many powerful people tried to prevent the little peasant girl from the Pyrenees from coming to pray at the Grotto : the commissioner Jacomet, the imperial prosecutor Dutour, the prefect Massy... Skeptical at first, some finally understood that Bernadette was trustworthy : such was the case of Abbé Peyramale, dean curate of Lourdes, and then of Monseigneur Bertrand-Sévère Laurence, bishop of Tarbes ! Since then, physical and spiritual healings have continued unabated. Today, Lourdes is one of the world's greatest pilgrimage destinations.