While the significance of that event shouldn't be dismissed, the place itself has become quite commercial in some respects. For example, people buy stacks of candles and throw them into an ever-burning pit of fire as a token of their devotion. It seems that saying a prayer and lighting a candle just doesn't cut the mustard these days...
(If you look closely, you'll see a woman wearing a red cap in the final photo holding a candle that is taller than she is!)
(Pardon the photo quality; I couldn't find anything decent).
The top photo above shows an amphitheatre that holds, well, tens of thousands of people. Down the left side of the main square there is a lighter coloured strip that you can see some people walking down.
This becomes relevant in the bottom photo because you can see here a man kneeling down with his arm around a boy's shoulder. Thousands of people every year shuffle on their knees from the top of that strip right down to the chapel (with the flat roof) in another act of devotion. Many people who are experiencing spiritual or physical anguish follow this path in the hope of salvation.
It was a very hot, but very fascinating day. Margaux enjoyed relative comfort being carried by Thomas, but even she was exhausted by the end:
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