The spiritual centre of Lourdes is the subterranean grotto where Bernadette Soubirous experienced her visions in 1858. From the Porte St-Joseph , a broad boulevard sweeps towards the gilded spires of the Basilique du Rosaire and the Basilique Supérieure .
Underneath is the fabled Grotte de Massabielle , where people queue for hours to enter and take a blessed dip in the cave’s icy-cold baths, while other pilgrims content themselves by lighting candles of remembrance outside.
From Palm Sunday to mid-October, nightly torchlight processions start from the Massabielle Grotto at 9pm, while at 5pm there’s the Procession Eucharistique (Blessed Sacrament Procession) along the Esplanade des Processions.
