quite successfully because in 1790 it was decided that Bigorre would become a French département (instead of being subordinated to the neighboring province of Béarn, also turned into a département, as had been initially planned). However, it was felt that Bigorre was not large enough to meet the criteria of a département, so it was decided that the province of Quatre-Vallées and a fragment of the province of Nébouzan, both to the east of Bigorre, as well as several areas of Gascony to the north of Bigorre, would be joined with Bigorre to create the new département of Hautes-Pyrénées. Quatre-Vallées and Nébouzan protested vehemently against the decision, saying they wished to join with the province of Comminges with which they had historical and economic ties, but it was to no avail. Tarbes, the capital of Bigorre, was made the capital of the new département. Geographically, Bigorre consists of two distinct areas: the plains to the north around Tarbes rising into the foothills and the high mountain slopes to the south, rising to the Pic du Midi de Bigorre, with the mineral spa of Bagnères-de-Bigorre at its foot. Although Tarbes is the capital of Hautes-Pyrénées, the nearby town of Lourdes has eclipsed it in fame since the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1858, becoming the largest modern pilgrimage center of Western Europe: 12 million people visit the religious shrines annually. Former provinces of France Geography of Hautes-Pyrénées Bigerriones