Tradition has it that the Virgin saved a young girl from drowning here by holding a branch out to her under the bridge (beth-arram means beautiful branch in the Béarn dialect) and over eighty miracles are said to have been reported there in the 17th century.

There are three main places to visit:

The Chapel of Our Lady – National & Historic Monument and Historic building in the Baroque style.

The Chapel of Saint Michel Garicoïts – In 1837 Saint Michel Garicoïts founded the college of Our Lady of Bétharram, the parent organisation of the Congregation of the Fathers of the Sacred Heart.  He was the confessor of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, who visited Bétharram numerous times with her family.  You can see Saint Michel’s glass coffin in the Chapel.

The Calvary – Way of the Cross (17th century, destroyed during the Revolution, stations put up in 1805, bas-reliefs of the Passion cycle sculpted by Alexandre Renoir, 13 chapels in an eclectic style from 1841 to 1845).