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 around the grotto of Massabielle, the place where the events of the Lourdes apparitions occurred in 1858, among them three basilicas, the Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, the Rosary Basilica and the Basilica of St. Pius X, respectively known as the upper, lower and underground basilica. The sanctuary is a destination for sick and disabled pilgrims, as the Lourdes water, which has flowed from the grotto since the apparitions, is reputed for miraculous healings. The area is owned and administered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarbes-et-Lourdes, and has several functions, including devotional activities, offices, and accommodation for sick and disabled pilgrims and their helpers. In addition to the grotto and the three basilicas, the sanctuary includes fountains providing Lourdes water, baths for immersion in the water, an esplanade for processions, a calvary, the offices of the Lourdes Medical Bureau, and several places of worship in a 52 hectares area. The sanctuary of Lourdes is one of the most-visited Catholic shrines in the world, with around four million pilgrims coming every year. The grotto of Massabielle, which is the most famous site in the sanctuary, has hundreds of replicas in the world, known as "Lourdes grottos". History The sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes began with the marian apparitions to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858 in the town of Lourdes. On 11 February 1858, a 14-year-old peasant girl, called Bernadette Soubirous, said she saw a "lady" while playing near the grotto of Massabielle (from masse vieille: "old mass") with her sister and a friend, on the left bank of the Gave de Pau river. The "lady" was standing on a rose bush in a niche above the main cavity of the Massabielle grotto. At the time of the apparitions, the grotto lay well outside town, on common ground which was used by the villagers variously for pasturing animals, collecting firewood, and as a garbage dump, and it had a reputation for being an unpleasant place. Bernadette told her sister not to tell their parents about the apparition, but she told them anyway and their parents forbid them to go to the grotto again. Bernadette ignored their orders and kept going to