Lourdes is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for its Château fort, a fortified castle that rises up from a rocky escarpment at its center.
Lourdes with the Sanctuary of Our Lady
Waggon pulled by two oxen in front of Château fort de Lourdes in 1843, by Eugène de Malbos
Lourdes 1994
The Château Fort in Lourdes
The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly 500 km (310 mi) from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum altitude of 3,404 metres (11,168 ft) at the peak of Aneto.
Central Pyrenees
Composite satellite image of the Pyrenees (NASA)
Pico de Aneto, the highest mountain of the Pyrenees, Aragon (Spain)
Pic de Bugatet in the Néouvielle massif