
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (), known widely as the ''"''Upper Church''"'', is a
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
church and
minor basilica
Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...
within the
Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes (; ) is a Catholic Marian shrine and pilgrimage site dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes in the town of Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrénées, France. The sanctuary includes several religious buildings and monuments arou ...
in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
History
Constructed between 1862 and 1871
and consecrated in 1876, it was the second of the churches to be completed at the
Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes (; ) is a Catholic Marian shrine and pilgrimage site dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes in the town of Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrénées, France. The sanctuary includes several religious buildings and monuments arou ...
. The church was built on top of the rock above the
Lourdes grotto
A Lourdes grotto is a replica of the grotto where the Lourdes apparitions occurred in 1858, in the town of Lourdes in France, now part of the sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. Some Lourdes grottos are almost identical reproductions of the scene o ...
and next to the
Basilica of our Lady of the Rosary.
Designed by architect
Hippolyte Durand, the
Neo-Gothic
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...
church seems to emerge directly from the rock of Massabielle.
Description
Exterior
The exterior is dominated by a spire, and two lesser spires (not completed until 1908). Above the entrance is a mosaic depicting Pope Pius IX, who defined the dogma of the
Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...
in 1854.
The clock plays the Ave Maria hourly, and chimes the hours with a 2-tonne bell called Jeanne-Alphonsine. The other bells in the tower are named Geneviève-Félicie (weighing 1800 kg), Hermine-Benoîte (1100 kg), and Cécile-Gastine (800 kg).
Interior
The walls are lined with ex voto plaques, and banners from official National Pilgrimages of the past. It has a series of stained glass windows depicting various events in the story of Lourdes, and the clerestory windows depict Mary as the Second Eve.
Notes
Further reading
* ''Le Guide Officiel des Sanctuaires'', Ed. Sanctuaires Notre Dame de Lourdes, .
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Notre-Dame de l'Immaculee-Conception, Lourdes
Basilica churches in France
Our Lady of Lourdes
Churches completed in 1872
19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France
Churches in Hautes-Pyrénées