Shrine of the Virgin Mary of Lourdes

In Lourdes, the Virgin Mary first appeared to a poor, uneducated 14-year-old girl, Bernadette Soubirous, on February 11, 1858, at the Massabielle grotto near the town. Mary wore a snow-white dress, her cloak was dazzling white, she had a sky-blue belt around her waist, and her bare feet were decorated with a golden rose. She had a rosary in her hand. She appeared to the girl eighteen times until July 16, asking for repentance and atonement. On March 25, she also revealed her name: I am the Immaculate Conception. In 1862, construction began on a basilica on the rock above the spring, which was completed by 1876. In the grotto, at the site of the apparitions, a marble statue of the Virgin Mary was built under Bernadette's guidance, and today, in copies of various sizes, it can be seen all over the world. ; The statue niche was built in 1904 by János Valkovics and his wife, Anna Szolcsánszki.