Crypt

Fourvière’s crypt, dedicated to Saint Joseph, is identified as the lower church. The same size as the basilica, it was originally conceived by Pierre Bossan as the main entrance to the sanctuary. Pilgrims were to “go to Mary through Joseph”, passing from the darkness of the crypt to the light of the basilica.

The altar

The altar in the crypt is dedicated to St. Joseph, who is represented both by the statue of him carrying the infant Jesus, and by the group sculpted beneath the altar evoking his death.

At the foot of the statue of Saint Joseph, the mosaic of the “seven deadly sins” marks the start of the symbolic axis of the victory of good over evil.

The mosaics of deadly sins

The seven deadly sins, dominated by the statue of Saint Joseph, mark the symbolic axis of the victory of good over evil.

Donor communities

The walls of the crypt have a special feature: they commemorate all the parish donors in the region well beyond Lyon, whose names are engraved in marble, along with the ex-votos.

The Virgins of the world

Today, the crypt houses eleven statues of the Virgin Mary from sanctuaries around the world. Each one highlights the international dimension of the Marian cult.

OUR LADY OF FATIMA (Portugal) set up  in 1994

Our Lady of Fatima represents the Virgin Mary as she appeared 6 times during the year 1917  to 3 children at Fatima, a little village in the centre of Portugal.

OUR LADY OF CZESTOCHOVA (Poland) set up in 2002

Czestochowa is the spiritual capital city of Poland and has got a painting of the Black Virgin, known for her numerous miracles. The legend says that the image of the Black Virgin of Czestochowa has been painted by Saint Luke the Evangelist on a board coming from the table belonging to the Holy Family.

OUR LADY OF GOOD HEALTH OF VELANKANNI (India) set up in 2005

The Virgin Mary appeared to a young shepherd in the village of Velankanni in India. The emblematic representation of the Virgin is unique because it is one of the 2 icons in which Mary is shown dressed in an Indian sari.

THE WEEPING VIRGIN OF GYOR (Hungary) set uP in 2006

In the GYOR cathedral, located in Hungary, the people worship an Irish Madonna. On the 17th of March 1697, on Saint Patrick’s day, a year when, in Ireland, the religious persecution came to its climax, the Madonna started shedding tears of blood for 3 hours.

OUR LADY OF LORETTO (Italy) set up in 2010

In the basilica of Loretto in Italy, the statue of Our Lady, made in Lebanon cedar coming from the Vatican gardens, has been worshipped since the Middle Ages. Our Lady Of Loretto is the patron saint of the aviators.

OUR LADY OF ” La Naval” ( Manila) set up in 2010

According to the tradition in the Philippines, the Virgin helped to push away successfully the Dutch protestant invasion forces during the battles of La Naval in Manila, just like the battle of Lepanto in 1571. In 2009, the Philippine government named the icon and its Sanctuary as a national cultural treasure.

OUR LADY OF LEBANON set up in 2011

Our Lady of Lebanon is considered as the Patron Saint and Queen of Lebanon: this devotion goes back to the beginning of the 20th century.

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE put up in 2014

On the 9th of December 1531, on top of the hill of Tepeyac, north of Mexico, a young lady “dazzlingly shining” appears to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, just baptized. She introduces herself as the Virgin Mary and makes him responsible for asking the bishop to have a church built right here on the apparition spot.

OUR LADY OF CHINA set up in 2016

The devotion to Our Lady of China starts in Donglu, a village of the Chinese province of Hebeia, region with a heavy rural catholic concentration. In 1900 several Marian apparitions were reported. A picture of Our Lady of China was consecrated by Pope Pius XI in 1928.

OUR LADY OF AFRICA set up in August 2017

Thanks to Marguerite Berger and Anna Cinquin, two pious young ladies from Lyons, the Algerians started to worship Our Lady of Africa. This pilgrimage began in a nearby ravine at the foot of an old olive tree, in the trunk of which had been placed a statue of the Virgin. The bishop of Algiers, Bishop Pavy, began the construction of the basilica in 1858 but it was Bishop Lavigerie who consecrated it in 1872. On the altar, overlooking the sanctuary, stood the statue of Our Lady of Africa, offered in May 1840 by the Ladies of the Sacred Heart of Lyon to Bishop Dupuch, first bishop of Algiers.

OUR LADY OF APARECIDA (Brasil) set up in 2017

In 1717, a fisherman brought from the waters the beheaded body of a statue of the Virgin Mary. Thanks to new attempts the head and a huge amount of fish were brought back. A Church was erected for her. In 1929, our Lady of Aparecida was proclaimed “Queen of Brazil ” and the official patron saint of the country by Pope Pius XI.