Where Millions Journey Each Year in Search of Grace
In 1917, three shepherd children in the hills of central Portugal reported a series of apparitions of the Virgin Mary that would change the world. Today the Sanctuary of Fátima draws millions of pilgrims from every corner of the globe each year - a place of extraordinary spiritual power, architectural grandeur, and profound human stories.
The Sanctuary of Fátima is one of the largest pilgrimage complexes in the world - a vast ceremonial esplanade twice the size of St Peter's Square in Rome, flanked by colonnaded porticos and framing the two great basilicas. At its heart burns the perpetual flame of the Chapel of the Apparitions, the holiest point on the site, where the first apparitions took place in the Cova da Iria.
Built on the very spot where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta on six occasions in 1917, this modest chapel - always fragrant with candle smoke and flowers - is the spiritual heart of Fátima. Pilgrims arrive here day and night, many completing the final approach on their knees as an act of devotion. The atmosphere is deeply moving whatever one's beliefs.
Consecrated in 2007, this remarkable modern basilica by architect Alexandros Tombazis can hold 8,700 worshippers and is clad in the same limestone as the older basilica. Its simple, circular interior is softened by the world's longest continuous mosaic - 4,500 square metres of tile depicting the history of salvation - and by natural light that floods in from a crown of clerestory windows above.
To understand Fátima is to walk alongside the pilgrims. On the 12th and 13th of each month, great candlelight processions cross the esplanade after nightfall, recreating the miraculous night of October 13th 1917 when the sun appeared to dance in the sky before 70,000 witnesses. At any time of year, the diversity of the faithful - from African bishops to young backpackers - makes Fátima a uniquely human place.
Whether pilgrim or curious visitor, Fátima is an experience unlike any other
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