Lisieux · FR

Sanctuary of Lisieux

On a hill on the edge of Lisieux in Normandy's Calvados stands one of the largest churches raised anywhere in the twentieth century: the Basilique Sainte-Thérèse, the beating heart of the Sanctuary of Lisieux. The whole site is dedicated to Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1873–1897), the Carmelite nun whose autobiography Story of a Soul made her, in her lifetime's afterglow, one of the most beloved figures of modern Catholicism. Canonized in 1925 and later proclaimed a Doctor of the Church, she spent her short cloistered life in this town, and the sanctuary now draws hundreds of thousands of visitors a year—Lisieux ranks among France's most important pilgrimage destinations after Lourdes. What makes a visit worthwhile, whether or not you come as a pilgrim, is that this is far more than a single church. The sanctuary stitches together a cluster of authentic Theresian places—the great Romano-Byzantine basilica with its glittering dome, the Carmel where she lived and died, the family home Les Buissonnets, and the cathedral where she prayed as a girl—linked by guided walks and easy self-guided trails. It is a place built to gather crowds yet full of quiet corners for stillness, set on a hilltop that opens onto wide views over Normandy.