The Rocher de la Vierge is a truly dramatic landmark—a statue of the Virgin Mary set on a steep, narrow rock in the ocean. According to a local legend, fishermen caught out at sea in a storm were guided back to the port by what seemed to be a divine light.
In gratitude, the fishermen installed a statue of the Virgin Mary on the rock. Napoleon III decided to make the site accessible from the shore and in 1887 asked Gustave Eiffel to create a sturdy metal bridge.
To arrive at the Virgin Mary statue, tourists must walk across the "Passerelle Eiffel" (pedestrian bridge), suspended high above the pounding waves of the ocean. This experience is one of the most thrilling things to do in Biarritz. The scenic stroll affords awe-inspiring panoramas of the coastline, extending from the mouth of the Adour River to the Spanish frontier.
Other marvelous viewpoints of the Basque coastline can be found nearby at the Esplanade du Rocher-de-la-Vièrge and at the Esplanade du Port-Vieux, where there is a magnificent prospect of the cliff-fringed Côte des Basques, exposed to the full force of the breakers, extending all the way to the hills of Spain
