In the former monastery garden, located at Kloosterweg 58 in Bunde, South Limburg, which belongs to the municipality of Meerssen in the province of Limburg, stands a Lourdes grotto with two statues of Our Lady. The large garden is situated within the Overbunde estate. The Lourdes grotto is found at the far north of the extensive garden, close to the corner of Kloosterweg and Dennenweg.
Remarkably, two statues of the Virgin Mary have been placed at the grotto. One effigy faces the large park. The monks and later the other residents of the complex have a view of the large Grotto of Our Lady. At the rear of the grotto, there is another effigy of Our Lady which is visible to passers-by in the Dennenberg and Kloosterweg.
The Maria Grotto is built of natural stone and was consecrated on 1 May 1892. As the grotto was built before 1900, it belongs to the oldest grottoes in the Netherlands.
In Bunde, it is referred to as a Mary's Grotto and not a Lourdes Grotto because the depiction of the visionary Bernadette Soubirous is missing.
Volunteers have renovated the Maria Grotto in the past. Later, people from the Foundation for the Preservation of Overbunde, established in 1993, took over. They are active for the grotto and have it restored. On 20 September 2009, the restored Maria Grotto was consecrated again by priest Jack Geudens (1957).
