Geography of Lourdes
Lourdes, France, a town in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées, in the southwestern part of the country at the foot of the Pyrenees. In Lourdes is the most famous of all Roman Catholic shrines outside of Rome. On 18 occasions from February 11 to July 16, 1858, Marie Bernarde Soubirous (Saint Bernadette), a peasant girl of 14, reported seeing an apparition of the Virgin Mary in a nearby grotto. Shortly afterward, a blind villager's sight was restored after bathing in the water that came from a spring in the grotto. Lourdes quickly became a popular shrine for the faithful, and in 1862 pilgrimages to Lourdes were approved by Pope Pius IX.
Each year millions of people travel to the grotto, and many sick bathe in the spring's waters. Many miraculous cures are reported. The Roman Catholic Church maintains a medical bureau at Lourdes to authenticate miracles.
Population: about 18,000.