Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima (Santuario de Fatima)

Here is some of the History and current visitor information, to help you plan your day out in Fatima.

Fátima, the major parish of the Ourém municipality, in the district of Santarém, is one of the most important pilgrimage centres for the Catholic world.

It is situated at about 25 km from Ourém, 25 km from Leiria, 120 km from Lisbon, 180 km from Oporto and approximately 300 metres above sea level.

History of Fatima

On 13 May 1917, three shepherd children were in fields in the Cova da Iria, Fatima. They were called: Lucia de Jesus, aged 10, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, aged 9 and 7. About midday they saw a brilliant light, and thinking it to be lightning, they decided to go home. But as they went down the slope another flash lit up the area, and they saw on the top of a holmoak (where the Chapel of Apparitions now stands), "a Lady more brilliant than the sun", who was holding a white rosary.

The Lady told the children the three "Secrets of Fatima": a message of peace and a vision of hell, which was related to the First World War; the second concerned Russia, wars and persecution, just weeks before the Bolsheviks took St Petersburg; and the third secret, revealed by Pope John Paul II, was a symbolic revelation, saying that if Russia is healed, there will be peace, if not its errors would spread throughout the world...

The Lady told the three little shepherds that it was necessary to pray much, and she invited them to return to the Cova da Iria over the next five months, on the 13th day at that hour. The children did so and the 13th day of June, July, September and October, the Lady appeared to them again and spoke to them in the Cova da Iria. On the 19th of August, the apparition took place at Valinhos, about 500 meters from Aljustrel, because on the 13th the children had been carried off by the local Administrator to Vila Nova de Ourém.

There were many sceptics and the children were interrogated by the church authorities. They refused to change their story and people began to come to Fatima to await the vision. Only the children had ever seen her, until the last appearance. Then on October 13, with about 70,000 people present, the Lady said to them that she was the "Lady of the Rosary" and that a chapel was to be built there in her honour. After the apparition all present witnessed the miracle promised to the three children in July and September: the sun, resembling a silver disc, could be gazed at without difficulty and, whirling on itself like a wheel of fire, it seemed about to fall upon the earth.

The place of the apparitions was marked with a wooden arch and a cross. The small tree vanished, bit by bit, taken by pilgrims. On 6th August 1918 the construction of a little chapel began, with the help of people's charitable donations. This chapel was built with stone and chalk, covered with tiles. It was the first construction on the actual site of the prayers, and measured 3.3m long, 2.8m wide and 2.85m high.

Visiting the Santuario de Fatima (Sanctury of Fatima)

Today several million head for the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima to take part in the Pilgrimage to Fatima, each year. If you are Catholic then it is somewhere you should definitely visit if you are in central Portugal. Even if you are not a Christian it is a very spiritual and beautiful place to visit.

Most people visit especially around the anniversary of the first apparition in May but there are smaller pilgrimages on the 12th and 13th of each month. From Easter to November the pilgrimage begins on the 11th and includes multi-lingual masses, Stations of the Cross, Eucharistic processions, International Rosary, a candlelight procession and a Night Vigil. The pilgrimage culminates in the Adeus ("farewell") procession at 10pm.

Nowadays, the Sanctuary has not only a large set of buildings, but also a wide open air area, covering around 86400m2 that can host 300 000 pilgrims. Besides the Chapel of Apparitions, the Basilica is the centre of activities. Its first stone was blessed on the  May 13th 1928 by the Archbishop of Évora, D.Manuel da Conceição Santos. The work is from the Dutch architect G. Van Kriechen. The Basilica of the Sanctuary of Fátima was built with local limestone and the high altars are made of marble from Estremoz. It measures 70, 50 metres long and 37 metres large. It has 15 altars celebrating the 15 Mysteries of the Rosary. In the interior of the Basilica rest the mortal remains of Jacinta, Francisco and Lúcia.

In the area of the Sanctuary we can also see the big Holm Oak, under which the shepherd children and the first pilgrims used to wait and to pray the rosary before the arrival of Our Lady; the monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus that rises in the centre of the Sanctuary, the High Cross at the southern top of the Sanctuary, the monument to Pope Pio XII, the monument to D.José Alves Correia de Silva, first bishop, and Pope Paulo VI Pastoral's Centre. 

In Fátima (Parish's Centre) we can visit the Parish's Church where the children were baptised and the cemetery where Francisco and Jacinta were first buried.

Near the Sanctuary you can visit the Pope Paul VI Pastoral Centre; the homes of the shepherd children and the Aljustrel Ethnographic Museum; and in Valinhos the Via Sacra and Calvary, Our Lady Monument and the Angel Site. Fátima Wax Museum, the Sacred Art and Ethnology Museum, and the 1917 Apparitions’ Museum, in Fátima, Cova da Iria.

Many pilgrims, especially from Spain make a double pilgrimage to include Fatima and Santiago de Compostela (Spain). 

The Centennial of the apparitions will take place in 2017 and preparations are already underway in Fatima, for what it expected to be the biggest event in the world church calendar for decades. If you are visiting Fatima for the Centennial then plan and book your accommodation early.

There are many shops selling religious articles around the town, as well as hotels and restaurants. You will find that many people speak some English as they cater to the International visitors that come to Fatima all year round.