Our Lady of Arantzazu de Ainhoa is a center of ancient pilgrimages in the Basque Country. Tradition tells us that the Virgin appeared to a shepherd boy on the slopes of Axulai, near a spring reputed to have healing powers. It is also said of this hermitage that when they began to build it at a lower location, they found it in ruins the next morning, until they had to rebuild it on the site of the apparition. The feast day is Pentecost. In 1886, a Stations of the Cross was placed at the initiative of the Abbot of Duronea. In 1895, very popular pilgrimages were organized. A grotto was built at the place where the miraculous water flows. A new Calvary was constructed. Juan Behereche, who died in 1825, was the guardian of the hermitage for seventy consecutive years. The painting depicting the apparition of the Virgin of Ainhoa was hidden during the French Revolution. It was later returned to the sanctuary.
Ref . Juan Thalamas L. "AEF", t. XI, 88.