Fátima: sanctuary town of the Serra de Aire
Fátima is known for its sanctuary, built where three shepherd children reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary in 1917. Read on for the little chapel of the apparitions, two basilicas, a 34-metre cross, a block of the Berlin Wall and the shepherds' path to Valinhos.
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Fátima is a city in the Serra de Aire, in the municipality of Ourém and the district of Santarém. Its name comes from the Arabic name Fátima, and a legend that sources describe as unconfirmed tells of a Moorish princess of that name who married a Christian knight. The parish was separated from the Collegiate Church of Ourém in 1568, and for centuries its villagers mostly kept sheep and farmed. That changed in 1917, when three shepherd children, Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria.
The heart of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima is the Capelinha das Aparições, the little chapel built between April and June 1919 where five of the six apparitions took place. It was blown up with dynamite in March 1922 and restored in 1923, and it still keeps the look of a simple country chapel. The statue venerated there, carved in Brazilian cedar by José Ferreira Thedim, wears on major pilgrimage days a gold crown given by the women of Portugal in 1942; since 1989 it has held the bullet removed from Pope John Paul II after the 1981 attack in Rome.
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, whose first stone was blessed in 1928, was dedicated in 1953. Across the prayer square, the circular Basilica of the Holy Trinity, designed by the Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis and dedicated in 2007, measures 125 metres across with no internal supports. Near it stand the 34-metre Cruz Alta and a 2.6-tonne block of the Berlin Wall. Beyond the sanctuary, the Way of the Cross along the shepherds' path leads to the Hungarian Calvary and to Valinhos, site of the August 1917 apparition, while the Loca do Cabeço and the well behind Lúcia's house recall the earlier apparitions of the Angel.
The craft beer scene in Fátima is still waiting to be discovered. With Ourém and Leiria close by, travellers can look around the wider region to see what is being poured nearby.
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Frequently asked questions
Fátima is a city in the Serra de Aire, in the municipality of Ourém and the district of Santarém. The parish was separated from the Collegiate Church of Ourém in 1568, and for centuries its villagers mostly kept sheep and farmed, until three shepherd children reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria in 1917.
The little chapel at the heart of the sanctuary was built in 1919 where five of the six apparitions took place. It was blown up with dynamite in 1922, restored in 1923 and still looks like a simple country chapel. Since 1989 its statue's gold crown has held the bullet removed from Pope John Paul II after the 1981 attack.
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary was dedicated in 1953. Across the prayer square, the circular Basilica of the Holy Trinity, dedicated in 2007, measures 125 metres across with no internal supports. Near it stand a 34-metre cross and a 2.6-tonne block of the Berlin Wall.
Beyond the sanctuary, the Way of the Cross along the shepherds' path leads to the Hungarian Calvary and to Valinhos, site of the August 1917 apparition. The Loca do Cabeço and the well behind Lúcia's house recall the earlier apparitions of the Angel, reported before those at the Cova da Iria.