Sanctuary of Lourdes

Beautiful hermitage between the municipalities of Manlleu and Torelló. Highly visited on walks and excursions. Good views over the plain of Vic and the Pyrenees.

The Mother of God depicted and venerated here is the Virgin Mary of Lourdes. This well-known Marian pilgrimage site is located in the French Pyrenees and is visited annually by large numbers of people, including many sick people hoping for healing. The devotional image of the Mother of God has become widespread – not only in France – with believers building Lourdes chapels and grottos everywhere.
The church feast day of "Our Lady of Lourdes" is February 11th, the anniversary of the Marian apparition (1858), when the Mother of God appeared to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous in a rock grotto very close to Lourdes. Bernadette later became a nun and died at the age of just 35. On December 8th (the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary), 1933, she was canonized by Pope Pius XI.
The commemoration of the Madonna of Lourdes is also World Day of the Sick.