Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Lourdes: Interior, looking towards apse and altar

The walls are lined with ex voto plaques, and banners from official National Pilgrimages of the past. The clerestory windows depict Mary as the Second Eve.\u000a\u000aKnown widely as the 'Upper Church', it is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica within the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. Constructed between 1866 and 1872 and consecrated in 1876, it was the second of the churches to be completed. The church was built on top of the rock above the Grotto and next to (in back of) the Basilica of our Lady of the Rosary. It is Neo-Gothic, following a 13th century style and has a tall (70 m) spire; the two lesser spires were not completed until 1908.