Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima
Between May and October 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared six times to three shepherd children, Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, at the Cova da Iria near the village of Fátima. She asked for prayer, penance and the daily Rosary for peace. On 13 October about seventy thousand people witnessed the “miracle of the sun.”
The little Chapel of the Apparitions stands on the spot where Our Lady appeared. Before it stretches an immense esplanade, larger than Saint Peter’s Square. At one end rises the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, consecrated in 1953, where the three seers are buried. At the other end is the modern Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, which holds nearly nine thousand people.
About six million pilgrims come each year, especially for the great pilgrimages of 12–13 May and 12–13 October, when candlelight processions fill the esplanade. Pope Francis canonized Francisco and Jacinta here on 13 May 2017, the hundredth anniversary of the first apparition.
- Built
- 1928–1953 (Basilica of the Rosary); 2004–2007 (Basilica of the Holy Trinity)
- Style
- Neo-Baroque; modern
- Where
- Fátima, Portugal
- Map
- Find it on OpenStreetMap