The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto

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Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

Institution Name: Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College
Original/Historic Place Name: Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto
Location on Campus: northeast of Le Fer Hall
Date(s) of Construction:

1918	original construction begun
1928	dedication

Designer:
Type of Place: Landscape site
Style: (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, religion
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Function:

1918-present (2006)	memorial site
1918-present (2006)	outdoor space

Narrative:
The Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes was begun in the south ravine in 1918 in fulfillment of a promise made by Mother Mary Cleophas regarding the end of the First World War. Mother Mary promised to erect a new shrine in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes should peace be declared between the warring nations before December 8th of that year. The signing of the Armistice on November 11th, 1918, prompted work to begin on the grotto, and it was dedicated on February 11th, 1928. Stones from Lourdes, France are embedded in the masonry. In detail and in general structure, the grotto resembles that at Lourdes.

References: