Lourdes Grotto
Grotta di Lourdes sits quietly within the Vatican Gardens, an artificial replica of the Lourdes Grotto in France. Built between 1902 and 1905, it was conceived after Pope Leo XIII invited a copy of the Lourdes shrine to the heart of the Vatican, where clergy live and celebrate liturgies. The grotto’s creator was Constantino Sneider, who crafted the medallion at the entrance showing images of both popes, a small nod to the shared Marian devotion of the era. The full gift was presented on June 1, 1902, by the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, François-Xavier Schoepfer, in the penultimate year of Leo XIII’s pontificate. This grotto isn’t just a garden feature; it reflects a wider Catholic impulse following the 1854 proclamation of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX, and the Lourdes apparitions that inspired Marian devotion. …
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