Basilica and Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima 
Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima. Click for larger view and credit, and see
our Fatima Photo Gallery for many more pictures.
Inside the Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima.
The Chapel of Apparitions.
Pilgrims in the Chapel of Apparitions.
A service in the Chapel of Apparitions.
Lighting candles at the Shrine of Fatima.
Statues of the visionaries of Fatima.
Parish church where the visionaries were baptized.
The Way of the Cross.
Interactive satellite map of Fatima. For a larger view,
see our Portugal Map or Google Earth download.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima (Portuguese: Nossa Senhora do Rosário da Fátima) is one of most famous Marian shrines in the world. Some four million people visit Fatima each year, drawn by an appearance of the Virgin Mary reported in 1917 by three shepherd children.
History
Between May and October 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children—Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto—in the fields outside the village of Aljustrel, very close to Fatima, Portugal.
The Virgin would come and speak to them on the 13th of every month. Lúcia later described the vision of Mary as "more brilliant than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal glass filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the burning rays of the sun."
According to Lúcia's account, Mary exhorted the children to do penance and sacrifices to save sinners. They wore tight cords around their waists to cause pain, abstained from drinking water on hot days, and other works of penance. Most important, she asked them to say the Rosary every day. She reiterated many times that the Rosary was the key to personal and world peace. Many young Portuguese men, including relatives of the visionaries, were then fighting in World War I.
During the second apparition on June 13, 1917, the Virgin Mary predicted the deaths of two of the children. Previously, she'd told them they would all eventually go to heaven. On June 13, Lúcia asked the Virgin to take them to heaven soon.
Mary replied, "Yes, I shall take Jacinta and Francisco soon, but you will remain a little longer, since Jesus wishes you to make me known and loved on earth. He wishes also for you to establish devotion in the world to my Immaculate Heart."
On her last visit, a crowd of 70,000 people, including reporters from skeptical, anti-religious newspapers, gathered in a torrential rainstorm to witness the great Solar Miracle of Fatima. Many people in the crowd said that the sun changed colours, began spinning in the sky and went completely dark for several minutes before seeming to plunge toward the earth, then returning to its proper place. Reporter Avelino de Almeida, who had snarked at Fatima in previous articles, saw and reported the phenomena, while his photographer saw nothing but shot pictures of the mesmerized crowd looking up.
There is no independent verification of the solar phenomenon, and no movement or other phenomenon of the sun was registered by scientists at the time. It was reportedly witnessed from up to 25 miles away, but these people did not know what to make of it. Not everyone in the crowd saw the "sun dance", including the children, who reported seeing Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and Saint Joseph blessing the people. Some people only saw the radiant colors. Others saw nothing at all.
After hearing Mary's prophecy of their deaths on June 13, 1917, the siblings Jacinta and Francisco were ecstatic to hear that they'd be going to Heaven "soon" and did not keep this information secret. Family, friends and curious tourists all report Jacinta and Francisco joyfully and serenely predicting their deaths. Jacinta accurately predicted the exact hour and detailed circumstances of her death, according to accounts by her own mother, by Lúcia, and by hospital staff.
Francisco and Jacinta Marto were both victims of the Great Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1919. Exhumed in 1935 and again in 1951, Jacinta's body was found incorrupt. Francisco's had decomposed.
Francisco and Jacinta were declared "venerable" by Pope John Paul II in a public ceremony at Fatima on May 13, 1989. John Paul returned there on May 13, 2000, to declare them "blessed." Jacinta is the youngest non-martyred child ever to be beatified.
Lúcia reporting seeing the Virgin again in 1925 at the Dorothean convent at Pontevedra, Spain, and was asked to convey the message of the First Saturday Devotions. A subsequent vision of the Christ Child Himself reiterated this request. Lúcia was transferred to another convent in Tuy, Spain in 1928. In 1929, Lúcia reported that Mary returned and repeated her request for the Consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart.
Lúcia reportedly saw Mary in private visions off and on throughout her life. Most significant was the apparition in Rianxo, Spain in 1931, in which Jesus taught Sister Lúcia two prayers and delivered a message to give to the hierarchy of the Church.
In 1947, Sister Lúcia left the Dorothean order and joined the Carmelite order in a convent in Coimbra, Portugal. Lúcia died on February 13, 2005, at the age of 97. The date has significance for Fatima devotees, since most of the major events of this vision series took place on the 13th day of the month.
After her death, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (at that time, still head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) ordered her cell sealed off. It is believed this was because Sister Lúcia had continued to receive more revelations, and they wished to censor them, or perhaps simply to examine them in the course of proceedings for Lúcia's canonization.
Most of the interest in Fatima revolves around the famous three-part secret of Fatima, which includes remarkable visions of the future. Lúcia only wrote down the secrets in 1941, when she was asked to compose memoirs about Fatima and her cousins so their canonization proceedings could begin.
The first secret described a horrific vision of Hell. The second secret foretold the end of World War I and the beginning of World War II and called for the "Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary." Many believe Pope John Paul II fulfilled this request in 1984 by giving a blessing over the world, including Russia, shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union. There is some confusion as to whether Sister Lúcia believed this fulfilled the request of Mary.
The Vatican kept the third secret under wraps until Easter 2000 – despite Lúcia's declaration that it could be released to the public after 1940. Several sources, including Canon Barthas and Cardinal Ottaviani, said that Sr. Lúcia insisted to them it must be released by 1960, saying, "by that time, it'll be more clearly understood." 1960 passed without any such announcement, which led to immense speculation over the content of the secret.
The officially released text of the third secret was symbolic in nature and open to various interpretations. The Church's interpretation was that the prophecy pertained to the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Ağca in Saint Peter's Square, Rome. The shooting occurred on May 13, the date of the first of the reported Fatima visions. The Pope had reportedly stooped to hug a little girl wearing a Lady of Fatima badge when the assailant fired, and the bullets struck him in the abdomen rather than in the head as planned.
John Paul himself credited Our Lady of Fatima with saving his life. He said more than once that he plainly saw her actively intervening to deflect the gunman's arm. He said he maintained consciousness on the ride to the hospital by keeping his mind focused on her.
What to See
The Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima is a national shrine in Portugal built on the site where three young peasant shepherds first saw a "lady brighter than the sun." Construction on the basilica, in neo-classical style and with a central tower 65 meters high, began on May 13, 1928. The basilica has 15 altars dedicated to the rosary and an organ with 12,000 pipes.
Also in the basilica are the tombs of two of the three visionaries, Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto, who died in 1919 and 1920 respectively, and were beatified in 2000. The third seer, Lúcia dos Santos, died in 2005, and her tomb is now in the basilica as well.
The basilica is flanked by colonnades linking it with the extensive conventual and hospital buildings. The Chapel of Apparitions, an open-air church built on the site of the appearances, is open year-round for regular services.
Some Fatima pilgrims also visit a church and cemetery, the original burial site of Francisco and Jacinta, on the outskirts of Fatima.
In Aljustrel 3.2 km away, the homes of the children, largely unchanged over the past 88 years, give a glimpse of what the tiny village was like for the shepherd children.
A particularly popular site is the Hungarian Stations of the Cross, 14 little chapels leading to a marble monument of Christ on the cross, along 3 kilometers of uphill, stone walkways, a challenge for some elderly visitors.
There are many processions and festivals at the shrine; the large torch-light processions in the evening are particularly impressive.
Quick Facts
If you visit Fatima from May to October, be prepared for an enormous crowd. The devout come night and day and fill the plaza to overflowing. The most devout crawl on their knees more than 30 meters down a slope to the chapel.
Most visitors to Fatima come by bus or train from Lisbon (113 km away). Thousands more camp out in the Portuguese countryside. There are also hotels in Fatima (see link below).
If you travel to Fatima in the off-season (outside of May to October), call ahead to make sure the basilica is open.
- Official Vatican Statement releasing the third secret of Fatima
- Full account of the apparitions
- How The Sun Danced At Noon At Fatima - Translated text of Avelino de Almeida's eyewitness account, as published in O Seculo (The Century), a leading Lisbon newspaper.
- The Miracles at Fatima - A skeptical, atheist perspective on the miracles at Fatima
- The Fatima Center from an alternative perspective, a very thorough look at Fatima.
- Fatima's vision to believers and the curious – Sydney Morning Herald, April 10, 2005
- Fatima Travel Forum – TripAdvisor
- Fatima Hotel Reviews – TripAdvisor
- Lisbon Hotel Reviews – TripAdvisor
