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Fatima

– the mysteries of Fatima

Fatima was nothing but a quiet farming village until a spring day almost a hundred years ago when three young children returned home from tending sheep and told their parents they had been visited by an apparition on the hillside.

Chapel of Apparitions at Fatima

Basilica of the Rosary

That day would change their lives forever, turn Fatima into a centre of pilgrimage visited by millions each year, create a global religious movement and spark a wave of controversy and intrigue that continues to this day.

Secrets of Fatima

In the months that followed the children were visited five times by the Fatima apparitions known as Our Lady of Fatima, said to be the Virgin Mary herself, and given a series of messages and predictions that over the years have proved to be uncannily accurate, including the miracle of Fatima. Among these were the famous three secrets of Fatima, the third of which was kept secret by the Vatican until recently because it was considered so explosive. Controversy still rages over whether the secret the Vatican finally released is the complete document.

The story of Fatima has made it one of the most important sites in the Catholic

faith and attracts around four to five million pilgrims each year, mostly on the 13th of the month from May to November which is when the apparitions originally appeared. Many walk for miles to get there, some even crawling for the last part of their journey to the Fatima sanctuary (santuario fatima).

Apparitions of Fatima

There is an extensive complex of religious buildings and sights in Fatima, all built around the Chapel of Apparitions which is located on the site where Our Lady of Fatima is said to have appeared. The chapel, the most important in Fatima, is the centrepiece of the Fatima shrine and a focal point for pilgrims.

Not surprisingly a thriving tourist industry has sprung up around the Fatima sanctuary, with dozens of hotels, restaurants, bars and shops catering for visitors. There are also many gift and souvenir shops selling both religious artefacts and samples of the traditional crafts that are still practiced in the surrounding countryside where life goes on as before despite the momentous changes that have taken place in Fatima over the years.

Coming Soon

- the complete guide to Fatima - where to stay, what to see, where to shop, getting there and essential information for visitors to the town and the sanctuary.