What You'll Find on the Grounds

The heart of the complex is the stone grotto itself, with its statue of Our Lady of Lourdes set into a rough-hewn alcove. Beside the statue stands a velário — a candle station where visitors light votive candles for loved ones or in gratitude for favors received. Running alongside is a corridor whose walls are lined with hundreds of granite, plaster, and wooden plaques called ex-votos: each one is a personal inscription thanking the Virgin for a specific intercession. Some date back to the 1930s, weathered by decades of rain and moss into near-illegibility, lending the entire wall the gravity of an ancient Roman record of devotions.↗↗

A small waterfall cascades near the grotto, and its spring is tapped as a source of blessed potable water that visitors drink or fill bottles with to take home. The grounds also include a chapel with a sacristy and counseling rooms, a shop selling religious articles and small souvenirs, a modest restaurant, and public restrooms. A cemetery for priests was incorporated into the complex in 1949.↗↗

The 2022 Revitalization

In June 2022, the grotto closed for six months of renovation. The project, funded entirely by devotee donations and costing around R$ 200,000, included the construction of a new altar, replacement of flooring, installation of fresh wooden benches, careful pruning of surrounding trees guided by city biologists, and updates to the retail space. The site was officially reopened on December 11 with a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Dom Jaime Spengler, followed by an outdoor concert by Porto Alegre's youth orchestra.↗↗

Since the reopening, the grotto has expanded its role beyond daily veneration: it now hosts outdoor Masses, weddings, and baptisms, all by appointment. The care of the grounds was entrusted to the Missionary Community of Divine Providence in 2011, while administration falls under the Sociedade Fraterno Auxílio, an arm of the Metropolitan Archdiocese.↗↗↗

A Place of Healing

One detail shapes the character of this shrine above all others: it sits beside the Hospital Divina Providência, a Catholic medical center inaugurated in 1969. This proximity makes the grotto a natural refuge for patients, families, and hospital staff seeking spiritual comfort. Stories of miraculous healing are the lifeblood of this place. A woman from Cachoeirinha visits every December to lay white roses on the altar in gratitude for keeping her stomach tumors benign for forty years. A seventy-five-year-old man makes round-trip drives from Rio Grande to light candles and ask for strength against cancer. The grotto's administrator, Letícia Huff, has described the site as a place people come to "in search of miracles, welcome, and comfort — and Our Lady of Lourdes is consecrated to miracles."↗

Visiting

The grotto is open daily from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM. Masses are held Saturday and Sunday at 4 PM. The address is Rua da Gruta 109, in the Cascata neighborhood (often confused with adjacent Glória), accessed via a side street perpendicular to Avenida Professor Oscar Pereira. Wheelchair-accessible entrances, parking, and restrooms are available.↗↗↗

The first Sundays of May bring the traditional romaria — a large community pilgrimage that transforms the usually tranquil grounds into a lively gathering of thousands. If you prefer solitude and the sound of birdsong over crowds, come on a weekday morning. The site is free to enter, and there is no formal ticketing; donations support ongoing maintenance.↗