Lourdes et le cachot

In one of the lanes of the upper town of Lourdes, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, Rue des Petits Fossés, stands a sad grey old building: the former prison. At the back is a dark, damp cell measuring 3.77 by 4.40 metres, opening onto an inner courtyard through a single tiny window: the Cachot.

The Soubirous family lived here from 1856 until the autumn of 1858. François, Louise and their four children crowded into barely 16 square metres, a single room for everything: sleeping, cooking, eating and praying. It was from here that Bernadette set out for the Grotto, where she saw the Virgin Mary eighteen times.

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