Basilica of St. Pius X

The Basilica of St. Pius X is a located underground Roman Catholic church and minor basilica in the French Marian shrine of Lourdes. It is part of the sacred precinct at which 1858 of Bernadette Soubirous, the Virgin Mary had appeared. The modern church is located east of the Rosary Basilica and south of the Rosary Square, holds approximately 25,000 visitors and is - according to the 1988 church dedicated to Saint Bernadette at the opposite Gave de Pau Shore - the second youngest ecclesiastical building in the pilgrimage complex. The basilica is thus by far the largest church in Lourdes, at the same time but also the most criticized.

History

The 191 meter long and 61 meter wide underground religious building was designed by the French architect Pierre Vago. The completion of the concrete basilica was built in 1957. A year later, on 25 March 1958 to mark the centennial anniversary of the apparitions of Lourdes, consecrated Cardinal Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII. , The Church, which is one of the largest Christian church buildings.

Architecture and Design

The shape of the sacred building is modeled after an inverted ship's hull. The walls of the basilica are adorned with pictures of the Stations of the Cross, the Rosary mysteries and the 18 apparitions of Bernadette in 1858. In total there are 52 pictures, which can be seen behind glass. Also there are 34 portraits of saints and blessed from around the world in the church, which form the " way of the saints". Are representations of the apparitions of Lourdes and Bernadette Soubirous stations ' life on the eastern ramp. The images are taken by the French painter René Margotton ( 1915-2009 ).

The Basilica of St. Pius X is significantly different from the other sacred pilgrimage of the district. Since it is below the earth, seems almost no natural light in it. Criticism due to various shortcomings of the basilica is available.

Equipment

The organ was built by the Spanish organ building company Organeria Espanola d' Azpeitia 1969, and until 1997, restored by the organ builder Pesce Frères 1995. The instrument has 53 stops on four manual and pedal works. The play and Registertrakturen are electric.

• Couplers: II / I, III / I, IV / I, I / P, II / P III / P IV / P