Fátima

A place of pilgrimage since 1917, Fátima is today one of the most important Marian pilgrimage shrines in the world. This place of peace, retreat and spirituality welcomes millions of pilgrims every year.

Fátima sees the origin of her name in a Moorish princess called Fátima who, according to legend, was kidnapped by a Christian knight who had fallen in love with her. This Moorish woman converted to Christianity and was baptised Oureana, giving rise to the name of the city of Ourém. Her Arabic name was forever linked to the parish of Fátima.

It was in the place of Cova de Iria that the Virgin Mary appeared for the first time on May 13, 1917, and for six consecutive months, to three little shepherds who tended their flocks there. The children, Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta, were respectively 10, 9 and 7 years old. Francisco and Jacinta were Lucia's brother and cousin. The youngest died shortly after the apparitions (Francisco in 1919 and Jacinta in 1920) from pneumonia. Lucia passed away in 2005.

The first apparition took place on May 13, 1917 and the last on October 13 of the same year. The apparitions all took place on the 13th, except for the month of August, when the Virgin appeared on the 19th. The Virgin's message was clear: pray the rosary every day for peace in the world, as the First World War was taking place, in which Portugal also participated.

During the last apparition, the Miracle of the Sun took place: for about a quarter of an hour, the sky, which had been covered with black clouds, was suddenly torn apart. The sun, spinning vertiginously around itself, went down three times to the height of the horizon. The miracle that took place in front of 70,000 people started the cult of Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima.

In the heart of Cova da Iria, developed the city that we propose you get to know today. Fantastic places, where the terrestrial and the spiritual come together in an almost unbeatable peace and tranquillity.

Get to know the 20 biggest attractions of the Cova da Iria:

The Little Chapel of Apparitions was built on the site of the Apparitions in 1919. The first mass celebrated here took place on October 13, 1921, exactly 4 years after the last apparition to the little shepherds. It was dynamited by unknown persons and rebuilt that same year. Since then, and after improvements and restructuring, it has remained intact and with the appearance we know today.

This is the most important place in the entire Sanctuary. It is here that we can admire the image of Our Lady of Fátima. Placed on a pedestal, in the exact spot where the holm oak tree stood under which Our Lady appeared to the Little Shepherds, it is a wooden sculpture by José Ferreira Thedim. The image, on days of great pilgrimages, bears a precious crown offered by the women of Portugal on October 13, 1942. This crown is made of gold and is set with pearls and precious stones, of incalculable value.. In 1989, the bullet that struck Pope John Paul II in the attempt on his life on 13 May 1981 in the Vatican was placed in the centre of the crown.

The centenary Big Holm oak tree, which stands next to the Chapel of the Apparitions, was the biggest holm oak tree there and has therefore remained there as a symbol of that time. It was under this same holm oak tree that the Little Shepherds, and later the first pilgrims, awaited the arrival of Our Lady.

The Basilica of Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima stands where, on May 13, 1917, the 3 Little Shepherds were playing when, suddenly, they saw a flash of lightning that startled them and made them gather the flock to return home. On this day, the first Apparition of Our Lady took place.

The construction of the Basilica began in 1928, with a project by the Dutchman Gerardus Van Krieken, continued by the Portuguese João Antunes. Entirely built with stone from the region, the building measures about 70.5m high and about 35m wide, with a bell tower that reaches 65m in height. Topped with a bronze crown weighing more than 7 tons, it is topped by a cross that is illuminated at night and can be seen from any area of Fátima.

Its façade is impressive for its whiteness and for the image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a statue weighing around 14 tons. Inside are the tombs of the seers, placed in the transepts. Francisco on the right, Jacinta, and Lucia, side by side, on the left.

The Fátima Sanctuary Museum was created in 1955 by D. José Alves Correia da Silva, Bishop of the Diocese of Leiria-Fátima at the time. It aimed to preserve the memories of a past and gather a collection of historical, artistic, and ethnographic nature as a testimony of the international pilgrimages of the Pilgrim Virgin Image and the relics related to the History of the Apparitions and their protagonists.

The permanent exhibition Fátima Luz e Paz was inaugurated in 2001, in the Sanctuary's Rectory building so that all pilgrims and visitors can become involved in the history of the Apparitions of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima.

Inaugurated in 1994, this is a symbol of religious freedom and peace throughout the world. It is a block of the wall that began to be built in Berlin in 1961 to prevent the passage of citizens from East Germany to West Germany, and that would be demolished in November 1989, which led to the reunification of the country. The block weighs 2,600 kilos, measures 3.60 metres high and 1.20 metres wide. It was offered to the Sanctuary by a Portuguese resident in Germany. The arrangement of the monument was designed by the architect José Carlos Loureiro.

Since the need arose to create a covered space that could accommodate a greater number of pilgrims on days of greater affluence, the Basilica of the Santíssima Trindade was inaugurated on October 12, 2007, by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, on the 90th anniversary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary.

This project by the Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis is presented in a circular shape at the top of the Sanctuary enclosure, with an area of 40,000 m², accommodating around 8633 seated pilgrims. The main entrance door, all in bronze, is 8 metres high and is entirely dedicated to Jesus Christ. It is flanked by 20 panels, 10 on each side, representing the mysteries of the Rosary and two glass panels with 4 biblical quotes written in 26 languages. In addition to the main door, there are 12 side doors to the Basilica, each dedicated to an apostle of Jesus Christ.

The magnitude of the panel that covers the back wall of the presbytery is impressive as soon as you enter. Mosaic measures around 500m2 (10m high and 50m wide), made of golden terracotta and manually moulded. Createdby Fr. Marko Ivan Rupnik, Slovenian, and executed by a group of artists, specialised in liturgical art, at the Oriental Institute in Rome, and coming from eight nations and four Christian Churches.

All the dynamism and tension of light and another in the horizontal and vertical sense allows to provoke a state of soul that welcomes beauty, communion, and love. The Apostles, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Little Shepherds stand out: Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta, among other Saints and figures of the Church.

Another outstanding element is the Crucifix made of bronze, suspended over the altar. It represents Christ who willingly offered himself for all of us.

The image of Our Lady of Fatima, with open arms, reveals her Immaculate Heart and the Rosary.

Completing the composition, on the altar, there is a marble fragment of the tomb of the Apostle Saint Peter, on which the Basilica of Saint Peter is built, in the Vatican. This fragment was offered by Pope John Paul II.

Opposite the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, we have Praça Paulo VI and Praça João Paulo II. Next to the latter, there is, designed by Robert Schad, the Alta Cruz, about 34 metres high and 17 metres wide, in corten steel, this being the Commemorative Cross of the Holy Year of 1951.

The Museum of Sacred Art and Ethnology offers you a journey through the history of salvation, through a vast collection of images of the Child Jesus and another of crucifixes, complemented by figures relating to the Passion and Death of Christ.

The images shown in this exhibition were collected in Portugal and represent the religiosity of the Portuguese people since the 14th century. The documents on display (whether they are maps, graphics, texts) show the path of Evangelization that took place over time, placing Portugal in the limelight at the time of the Discoveries, adding, more recently, the mission in relation to the cultures and the Great Religions of the World. The Museum has 4 rooms, representing the following themes: Nativity, Passion of Christ, Resurrection and Mission of the Church and, finally, a multicultural enological exhibition.

In Rotunda de Nossa Senhora da Encarnação, commonly known as the north roundabout, one can find  the Monument to the Pilgrim. The sculptural group, an initiative of the Rotary Club of Fátima, was blessed by D. Serafim de Sousa Ferreira e Silva on October 27, 1990, when it was inaugurated. The monument is dedicated to the “anonymous pilgrim who came, believed and spread the word”.

Located in the Rotunda de Santa Teresa de Ourém, the well-known south roundabout, is the monument dedicated to the three Little Shepherds of Fátima: Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta, in a set by Fernando Marques (sculptor) and Francisco Marques (project architect). The Little Shepherds are represented here walking, representing the path they would take from their homes to the place of the apparitions. Spiritually it still represents the spiritual path to immortality.

It is at the Rotunda de Santa Teresa de Ourém, also known as the south roundabout, that the Via Sacra de Fátima begins and ends near the Chapel of Santo Estevão, in Valinhos. The whole complex is called the Hungarian Calvary since it was offered by Hungarian pilgrims. Inaugurated in 1964, the Capela do Calvário Húngaro is a moment of reflection after the completion of the Via Sacra.

Between the 8th and 9th stations of the Via-Sacra is the place where Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima appeared to the shepherd children on August 19, 1917, since the shepherd children were unable to appear in Cova da Iria on the 13th of the same month. The monument was erected in 1956, a work by the sculptor Maria Amélia Carvalheira da Silva (Image) and António Lino (niche). The Way of the Cross begins at the Rotunda de Santa Teresa de Ourém (south roundabout), ending at the Chapel of Santo Estêvão, surmounted by the Hungarian Calvary. The stations were offered by Hungarian Catholic refugees in the West, in a project by Ladislau Marec.

According to Sister Lúcia's reports, it was in this place that the Angel appeared for the first and third times, in the spring and autumn of 1916, respectively. It was also here that the Angel gave them communion, in the third apparition, as represented by the sculptural set of the Angel and the Little Shepherds, also by Maria Amélia Carvalheira da Silva.

Built in 1888, it was restored in 2000 (the year Francisca and Jacinta Marto were beatified). Francisco (June 11, 1908) and Jacinta (March 11, 1910) were born in this house, children of Olímpia de Jesus and Manuel Marto, the youngest of 5 siblings. It was also here, in this house, in the first room on the left, that Francisco died, a victim of pneumonia, on April 4, 1919, aged 11. Jacinta died in Lisbon, at the Hospital de D. Estefania, on February 20, 1920, aged just 10. In the house you will find some original family items and many photographs of the brothers and family.

A little further on is the house of Lúcia de Jesus, better known as Sister Lúcia, who left Aljustrel at the age of 14 to become a nun. Daughter of Maria Rosa and António dos Santos, she was the youngest of six siblings, born on March 22, 1907. In her house there are still some original family articles and also many images and photographs of Lúcia's family life history . Still in Aljustrel, behind Lúcia’s house, is Poço do Arneiro, with a monument alluding to the second apparition of the Angel of Portugal who appeared there to the three little shepherds, in the summer of 1916.

It was also here that Jacinta had a vision of the Holy Father crying and praying on his knees in a big house. Next to the well is a sculpture of the Angel of Portugal and the three seers, by Maria Irene Vilar.

 Next to Lucia's house is the House-Museum of Aljustrel, which belonged to Maria (Lúcia's godmother). Formerly a regional Ethnography Centre, it currently aims to show what life was like in the village at the time of the Apparitions.

The Apparitions of Fátima, in 1917, were a religious and national event that occupied many columns of the daily press at that time. The people flocked to Cova da Iria in torrential currents of curiosity, but also of Faith and Hope. We were living in a difficult moment with harrowing suffering, imposed by the First World War. The Lady brighter than the Sun promised peace but asked for penance and prayer.

This space describes in thirty scenes the apparition of the Virgin Mary to the Little Shepherds and the most relevant events in the history of Fatima at that time.

Through a guided tour and a virtual, interactive tour, with state-of-the-art multimedia content (holograms and 4D), the historical context of the beginning of the 20th century is recreated in the Interactive Museum – the Miracle of Fátima. XX, the Apparitions of the Angel and Our Lady to the three Little Shepherds, doubt and the Miracle of the Sun. Also remembered are the visits of Pope John Paul II to Fátima, the Candlelight Procession and the Secret.

In a visit of around 40 minutes, this is a unique experience of sharing emotions where it is possible to feel the magnetism of Fátima, the city of Peace, Altar of the World.

Casa das Candeias is a museum centre that aims to evoke the life and spirituality of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the three seers of the Apparitions of Fatima.

The space proposes to the visitor a reading of the journey of the two Blesseds, the synthesis they made in their lives of the message of Fatima and the gift that they represent to the Church, through the exhibition of some of their personal objects and artistic representations that evoke them. Admission is free.

It was here that Francisco would spend long hours praying. It was also here that Lucia made her first communion. Upon entering the Parish Church of Fátima, on your left is the Baptismal Font where Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta were baptized.

The Olive Oil Museum of Fátima shows old equipment linked to the production of olive oil, from the mill where the olives were ground, to the mixer that heated the olive mass, passing through the sills, where the olive mass is placed to be squeezed.

The space includes an area for promoting the cooperative's products and other rural products, such as honey, cheese, or wine.