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LOURDES

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 65 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LOURDES , a See also:

town of See also:south-western See also:France in the See also:department of Hautes-See also:Pyrenees, at the See also:foot of the Pyrenees, 12 m. S.S.W. of See also:Tarbes on the See also:main See also:line of the See also:Southern railway between that town and See also:Pau. Pop. (1906) 7228. Lourdes is divided into an old and a new town by the Gave de Pau, which at this point leaves the valley of Argeles and turns abruptly to the See also:west. The old See also:quarter on the right See also:bank surrounds on three sides a scarped See also:rock, on which stands the fortress now used as a See also:prison. Its large square keep of the 14th See also:century is the See also:chief survival of feudal times. Little is See also:left of the old fortifications except a See also:tower of the 13th or 14th century, surmounting a gateway known as the Tour de Garnabie. The old quarter is See also:united with the new town by a See also:bridge which is continued in an esplanade leading to the See also:basilica, the See also:church of the See also:Rosary and the Grotto, with its See also:spring of healing See also:water. The See also:present fame of Lourdes is entirely associated with this grotto, where the Virgin See also:Mary is believed are the lighthouse, See also:barracks and the private residences of the wealthy citizens. At its mouth the See also:English See also:river is about 2 M. across. Lourenco Marques is the nearest seaport to the See also:Rand See also:gold mines.

The See also:

port is 8374 M. from See also:Southampton via Cape Town and 7565 M. via the See also:Suez See also:canal. It is served by See also:British, Portuguese and See also:German liners, the See also:majority of the goods imported being shipped at Southampton, See also:Lisbon or See also:Hamburg. Over 50% of the import See also:trade of See also:Johannesburg is with Lourenco Marques. See also:Great See also:Britain and British possessions take some 40 % of the import trade, See also:Portugal, See also:Germany, See also:Norway, See also:Sweden and See also:America coming next in See also:order. Most of the imports, being forwarded to the See also:Transvaal, figure also as exports. The chief articles of import are See also:food-stuffs and liquors, See also:iron, See also:mineral See also:oils, inks and dyes, See also:timber and live stock. These all See also:form See also:part of the transit trade. There is practically no export trade by See also:sea See also:save in See also:coal, which is brought chiefly from the collieries at See also:Middelburg in the Transvaal. At Port Matolla, 20 M. from the town, on the river of that name, one of the feeders of the English river, is a flourishing timber trade. The See also:average value of the See also:total trade of Louren90 Marques for the five years 1897–1899 and 1902–1903 (1900 and 1901 being years during which trade was disorganized by the Anglo-See also:Boer See also:War) was over £3,500,000. In 1905 the value of the trade of the port was £5,682,000; of this total the transit trade was See also:worth over £4,500,000 and the imports for See also:local See also:consumption £1,042,000.- The See also:retail trade, and trade with the natives, is almost entirely in the hands of See also:Indians. The chief import for local consumption is cheap See also:wine from Portugal, bought by the See also:Kaffirs to the extent of over 500,000 yearly.

These natives form the bulk of the Africans who See also:

work in the Rand gold mines. Lourenco Marques is named after a Portuguese navigator, who with a See also:companion (See also:Antonio Calderia) was sent in 1544 by the See also:governor of See also:Mozambique on a voyage of exploration. They explored the See also:lower courses of the See also:rivers emptying their See also:waters into Delagoa See also:Bay, notably the Espirito Santo. The various forts and trading stations which the Portuguese established, abandoned and reoccupied on the See also:north bank of the river were all called Lourenco Marques. The existing town See also:dates from about 185o, the previous See also:settlement having been entirely destroyed by the natives. In 1871 the town was described as a poor See also:place, with narrow streets, fairly See also:good See also:flat-roofed houses, grass huts, decayed forts and rusty See also:cannon, enclosed by a See also:wall 6 ft. high then recently erected and protected by bastions at intervals. The growing importance of the Transvaal led, how-ever, to greater See also:interest being taken in Portugal in the port. A See also:commission was sent by the Portuguese See also:government in 1876 to drain the marshy See also:land near the settlement, to plant the See also:blue See also:gum See also:tree, and to build a See also:hospital and a church. It was not, however, until the end of the 19th century that any marked development took place in the town, and up to 1903 See also:cargo had to be discharged in tugs and lighters. In 1873–1877 Mr See also:Burgers, See also:president of the Transvaal, endeavoured, unsuccessfully, to get a railway built from See also:Pretoria to Delagoa Bay. In 1878–1879 a survey was taken for a line from Lourenco Marques to the Transvaal, and in 1883 the Lisbon See also:cabinet granted to See also:Colonel See also:Edward McMurdo, an See also:American See also:citizen, a concession—which took the place of others which had lapsed—for the See also:building of a railway from Lourenco Marques to the Transvaal frontier, the Boer government having agreed (1883) to continue the line to Pretoria. Under this concession Colonel McMurdo formed in See also:London in 1887 a See also:company—the Delagoa Bay and See also:East See also:African Railway Company—to construct the line.

Meantime a See also:

secret agreement had been come to between President See also:Kruger and Portugal for the concession to the Transvaal of a "See also:steam See also:tramway" parallel to the projected railway, should the company not See also:complete the line in the See also:time specified. The company, however, built the line to the frontier shown on the Portuguese maps of 1883 within the time limit, the railway being opened on the 14th of See also:December 1888. The frontier by this date had been fixed at See also:Komati Poort, 5 M. farther from the See also:coast. Portugal had previously agreed to See also:grant the company " a reasonable See also:extension of time " to complete in the See also:Roman See also:Catholic See also:world to have revealed herself repeatedly to a See also:peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous in x858. A statue of the Virgin stands on a rock projecting above the grotto, the walls of which are covered with crutches and other votive offerings; the spot, which is resorted to by multitudes of pilgrims from all quarters of the world, is marked by a basilica built above the grotto and consecrated in 1876. In addition the church of the Rosary, a See also:rich- building in the See also:Byzantine See also:style, was erected in front of and below the basilica from 1884 to 1889. Not far from the grotto are several other caves, where prehistoric remains have been found. The See also:Hospice de Notre-See also:Dame de Douleurs is the chief of the many establishments provided for the See also:accommodation of pilgrims. Lourdes is a fortified place of the second class; and is the seat of the tribunal of first instance of the See also:arrondissement of Argeles. There are See also:marble and See also:slate quarries near the town. The pastures of the neighbourhood support a breed of See also:Aquitaine See also:cattle, which is most highly valued in south-western France. The origin of Lourdes is uncertain.

From the 9th century onwards it was the most important place in Bigorre, largely owing to the fortress which is intimately connected with its See also:

history: In 136o it passed by the treaty of Bretigny from See also:French to English hands, and its governor was murdered by Gaston See also:Phoebus See also:viscount of See also:Beam, for refusing to surrender it to the See also:count of See also:Anjou. Nevertheless the fortress did not fall into the See also:possession of the French till 1406 after a See also:blockade of eighteen months. Again during the See also:wars of See also:religion the See also:castle held out successfully after the town had been occupied by the troops of the See also:Protestant See also:captain See also:Gabriel, count of See also:Montgomery. From the reign of See also:Louis XIV. to the beginning of the 19th century the castle was used as a See also:state prison. Since the visions of Bernadette Soubirous, their authentication by a commission of enquiry appointed by the See also:bishop of Tarbes, and the authorization by the .See also:pope of the cult of Our See also:Lady of Lourdes, the quarter on the left bank of the Gave has sprung up and it is estimated that 600,000 pilgrims annually visit the town. The chief of the pilgrimages, known as the See also:national See also:pilgrimage, takes place in See also:August. Several religious communities have been named after Our Lady of Lourdes. Of these one, consisting of sisters of the third order of St See also:Francis, called the See also:Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes (founded 1877), has its headquarters in See also:Rochester, See also:Minnesota. Another, the Order of Our Lady of Lourdes, was founded in 1883 for work in the archdiocese of New See also:Orleans. See G. Mares, Lourdes et ses environs (See also:Bordeaux, 1894); Fourcade, L'Apparition de la grotte de Lourdes (See also:Paris, 1862) and L'Apparition consideree au point de vue de l'See also:art chretien (Bordeaux, 1862); Boissarie, Lourdes, histoire medicale (Paris, 1891); Bertrin, Hist. critique See also:des evenements de Lourdes (2nd ed., Paris, 1905), written under authority of the bishop of Tarbes; H. Lasserre, Miraculous Episodes of Lourdes (London, 1884, tr.); R.

F. See also:

Clarke, Lourdes and its Miracles (ib., 1889) and Medical Testimony to the Miracles (ib., 1892) ; D. Barbe, Lourdes hier, aujourd'hui, demain (Paris, 1893; Eng. trans. by A. See also:Meynell, London, 1894); J. R. Gasquet, The See also:Cures at Lourdes (London, 1895); See also:Les Pelerinages de Lourdes. Cantiques, insignes, costumes (Lourdes, 1897) ; W. Leschner, The Origin of Lourdes (London, 1900). See also:Zola's Lourdes (Paris, 1894), a See also:criticism from the sceptical point of view, in the form of a realistic novel, has called forth many replies from the Catholic See also:side.

End of Article: LOURDES

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