Many of the museums and historic buildings in Lourdes are understandably focused on Bernadette Soubirous, the young girl whose visions of the Virgin Mary at the Massabielle Cave (Grotto) started the whole thing.

Bernadette was from a poor family, and she was born in an old mill, the Moulin de Boly. You can see the room in which she was born. Bernadette's father's home was the nearby Lacadé Mill, now referred to as the "Maison Paternelle," or paternal home. It also has some exhibits about the family.

Le Cachot, a former prison, was the one room home where the family (who had fallen on hard times) lived at the time Bernadette had her visions.

The Musée Sainte-Bernadette, located just across the road from the Basilica of St Pius X, has mementoes of Bernadette and pictures.

The Hospice Sainte-Bernadette, where she took her first communion on June 3, 1858, can also be visited.

Lourdes has several other small museums, including a wax museum that presents the life of Bernadette. The Musée La Nativité presents an "animated creche" and the story of Jesus's birth.

And don't forget the château-fort, which predates any of the religious history of Lourdes. More...

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