Description & Facts: ( video 1993, Lourdes, France). Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees, famous for Marian apparitions that are reported to have occurred in 1858. At that time, the most prominent feature was the fortified castle that rises up from the center of the town on a rocky escarpment. Following the reports that Our Lady of Lourdes had appeared to Bernadette Soubirous on several occasions, Lourdes has developed into a major place of Christian pilgrimage and of alleged miraculous healings. The 150th Jubilee of the first apparition took place on February 11 2008 with a outdoor mass attended by approx 45000 pilgrims. Today Lourdes has a population of around 15000 inhabitants but is able to take in some 5000000 pilgrims and tourists every season. With about 270 hotels, Lourdes has the second greatest number of hotels in France after Paris.