Sanctuaries of Betharram

Lestelle-Bétharram is the first great site of Pyrenean Marian pilgrimage. Legend has it that at the riverbank of the Gave of Pau, young shepherds found a statue of the Virgin Mary. The priest at Lestelle,(“the star” in béarnais), wanted to keep it but the statue kept returning to where it had been found. The faithful built an oratory dedicated to what the church called “the Morning Star”. The story also goes that a young girl washed away by the stream called on “Holy Mary”, the protector of the place. A branch was extended towards her and she was saved. This “beautiful branch” (“beau rameau” in French), is “beth arram” in béarnais, which gave the name to the place. The Oratory became a Catholic shrine and, long before Lourdes, countless pilgrims flocked to this place of Marian devotion.