What to see in Fatima, itinerary including the main places of interest, including Sanctuary, birthplace of the three shepherd children and other significant places.
Tourist information
The 13 May 1917 marked a radical change of life for the three shepherd children of Aljustrel, a village in Portugal located near Fatima.
In fact, on any Sunday, while walking as they had done so many times in a place called Cova de Iria, they suddenly had a strange vision.
It was a woman dressed in white and wrapped in a blanket of light.
The shepherds were named Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, she was only the oldest of the girls, Lucia, who managed to talk to her.
Jacinta saw her and listened, while Francisco, her brother, could only see his image.
These apparitions, previously announced by an angel, were repeated for five months, but only during the last, which took place on October 13, 1917, did the mysterious woman reveal her true identity.
It was the Virgin of the Rosary, who before the amazed gaze of over seventy thousand people, among the faithful and curious, who had come to Fatima from all over Portugal, made the sun move for ten minutes.
This phenomenon, which was also noted elsewhere in the country, was called the "sun dance".
The news quickly became public knowledge, making Fatima one of the largest Marian pilgrimage centers in the world.
In 1919 the first chapel was built in honor of the Madonna on the same site as the apparitions.
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Destroyed later by a bomb, it was erected three years after the simple current construction.
The column opposite indicates the precise place from which the Madonna addressed the shepherd children.
What see
In 1928 work began on the construction of the Basilica del Rosario, a large-scale place of worship, consecrated on May 14, 1953.
The imposing bell tower, 65 meters high and finished with a seven-ton crown and cross, dominates the square which has a maximum capacity of about one million people.
The central statue of the Sacred Heart indicates the point where the waters of a source flowed during the months of the apparition of the Virgin.
The huge square is closed laterally by magnificent arcades, where the stations of the Via Crucis are represented, remarkable majolica creations.
At Aljustrel, the birthplace of the three children are still present and some of the rooms have retained the same appearance of that time.
A short distance from the town, two other places attract many pilgrims every day, these are Valinhos, where the Virgin appeared the fourth time, and Loca do Cabeco, the place where the announcing angel appeared on two occasions.
