Oostakker Basilica

About

The Basilica of Oostakker-Lourdes is the church of an important pilgrimage site in Oostakker, a part of Ghent. The place of pilgrimage came on the initiative of a noble woman: marquise de Courtebourne-de Nédonchel, who then lived at the neighboring castle Slotendries. In 1873, she built a cave in her garden in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes.

After the blessing of the statue at the cave on 29 June 1873, residents and residents of Ghent asked to come and pray to the cave. A year later Pieter De Rudder at the Lourdes cave miraculously cured an open leg fracture. This healing created a great influx of believers.

In 1876 a church was built in neo-Gothic style to the plans of architect E. Van Hoecke-Peeters with a slight adjustment by architect Jean-Baptiste Bethune in 1875. In 1877 she was blessed by the Ghent bishop Hendrik Frans Bracq and at the 50th anniversary of the pilgrimage site in 1924 she was elevated to basilica.

The furniture is also neo-gothic and designed by J.B. Bethune. The Basilica is dedicated to Our Lady Immaculate Conception, the name with which Mary revealed herself...