Christians especially Catholics make a pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes or the Marian Shrine in Lourdes. There is also a spring located there which is believed to contain healing properties. Part of the pilgrimage involves the drinking of the spring water or bathing in the holy spring which originates in the grotto. The grotto was the place where the apparitions took place.

The story goes that a 14 year old poor girl saw visions, a total of 18, in which she was visited by the blessed virgin. The girls name was Bernadette Soubiroux and she saw these apparitions between the 11th of February and the 16th of July in the year 1858. She was at first not believed as she was the only one who saw these visions. The church only agreed to believe these apparitions four years after they actually occurred. Bernadette was later canonised and was known as Saint Bernadette.

In one of her apparitions the Virgin asked that people come for pilgrimage to the grotto. This fact led to the establishment of the Hospitalite Notre-Dame de Lourdes.