The most spectacular building in the town of Albert, the Notre-Dame de Brebières Basilica offers a neo-Byzantine style. The "little Lourdes of the North", inaugurated in 1901, was completely destroyed during the Great War, during the Battle of the Somme. On January 15, 1915, the building was hit by shells, and the Golden Virgin, which is at the top, leaned horizontally and gave birth to a legend. The soldiers of the Commonwealth began to say that "When the Virgin falls, the war will end". It fell on April 16, 1918, the year the war ended.
The Golden Virgin was also nicknammed as Fanny, by the Australians, because it makes them remember Fanny Durack, a famous olympic divere, when she was leaning.
The Basilica was rebuilt at the identical at the first one, in 1927 by Louis Duthoit, son of the first architect Edmond Duthoit. At the top, the statue of the Golden Virgin and the Child Jesus is covered with 40 000 gold leaves, or 980 grams of gold ! An unmissable gem to visit alone or with a guide !
Every year, a novena is celebrated in the month of September (during the week of the 8th), attracting pilgrims from all over France.