If you have visited Lourdes you may well have passed Betharram. Almost certainly an excursion to the famous Grottoes of Betharram would have been available as an optional extra on your pilgrimage.

The village is almost equidistant between Lourdes and Pau. A journey of only a few kilometres from either brings you to an oasis of greenery, a three hundred year old stone bridge, and an ancient monastery lulled by the song of the River Gave.

Since the 14^th Century this corner of the Pyrenees has been a Marian land, and at Betharram you will find a beautiful and ancient Marian Sanctuary.

The legend tells that a young girl in danger of drowning in the Gave invoked the aid of the Holy Virgin. Mary appeared on the bank and held out to her a flowering branch by which she pulled the girl to safety. Hence the name Beth-aram: "beautiful branch" in the Bearnaise dialect.

Along the centuries, miraculous cures and other events increased the immense confidence of many sick, weary and unhappy pilgrims in Our Lady’s motherly care for them. Still today, in the great chapel, she welcomes the pilgrim as the tender Mother you run to when everything seems hopeless.