Visiting Fatima, what you need to know
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima
Fatima is a major Christian pilgrimage site in Portugal, drawing millions of pilgrims annually from around the world. The faithful believe that in 1917 three shepherd children saw apparitions of the Virgin Mary on six separate occasions.
At the time of these purported miracles, Fatima was a quiet, obscure rural town. Today it is marked by an impressive religious complex, very well maintained and obviously loved, reflecting the significance of Fatima in Portugal’s spiritual heritage.
My impressions of Fatima
The movie poster from The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t admit that being in Fatima drummed up memories of my Catholic school early education, with yearly viewings of the film The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952) in my tiny elementary school’s multipurpose auditorium/gym.
I could instantly feel the hardback of those utilitarian wooden folding chairs that were notorious for nipping little fingers and were too uncomfortable for dozing off during the film. Hence, the characters and imagery of this story are well-known to me.
So I’m not surprised that I enjoyed my visit to Fatima - there was a warm familiarity to being there, though I’d never visited before. Familiarity certainly helped me appreciate it, but we were there as cultural visitors - ordinary tourists and certainly not pilgrims. It's been a long time since those days in that auditorium.
Visitors seeking a devotional experience or attending services will probably spend a good part of the day there, but for the typical tourist, there isn’t really that much to do in Fatima - it’s a pretty low-key experience. You shouldn’t need more than an hour to look around.
What is significant about Fatima?
If you are not familiar with the story, the abbreviated version goes like this: it is said that the Virgin Mary appeared to the children on May 13, followed by consecutive appearances on the 13th of every month through October 13, when the Miracle of the Sun occurred.
A crowd had gathered that day - as by then news of the apparitions had spread - and many onlookers, including the children, claimed to have seen the sun “dance” - or move about in the sky in an unusual way - along with radiant colors and other visual phenomena. But others said they saw nothing.
No unusual phenomena of the sun were observed by scientists at the time. Some have explained it as a meteorological event or perhaps even mass hysteria. The official position of the Catholic Church is that it is “worthy of belief”.
For context, I think it’s important to point out that politically, Portugal was undergoing a lot of change in the 1910s. The secularizing First Republic had recently overthrown the constitutional monarch. The new government was intensely anticlerical and this gave rise to a strong conservative reaction - which might explain a willingness to believe the message the children claimed to have received from Mary, that the world was getting too far away from God.
Either way, whether you believe in it or not, the impact of these events remains strong some 100+ years later, and for that reason, Fatima is an interesting and culturally significant place to see while in Portugal.
It is a fairly easy day trip from Lisbon, especially if combined with other stops.
The Grand Oak - representing the tree in which Mary is said to have appeared.
What to see in Fatima
There are three main points of interest at the pilgrimage site in Fatima:
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary
The Sanctuary of Fatima, which includes the Chapel of the Apparitions
The Basílica of the Holy Trinity
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary
Interior of The Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary- or Basílica de Nossa Senhora do Rosário in Portuguese - is the most impressive building on the pilgrimage site.
Built in 1929, its modern design is somewhat understated compared to the much older churches you might visit in Europe.
Personally, I loved the architecture of it - 1920s style is kind of my thing. It has an interesting “winged” shape, a beautiful bell tower and a bright, intrinsically deco interior.
The tombs of the three children are inside the shrine. Rather poignantly, the two younger children, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, died in the Spanish flu pandemic only a few years after the apparitions.
By contrast, their cousin Lucia Santos, who was the eldest of the three, survived to the very old age of 97, living out her life quietly as a Carmelite sister in nearby Coimbra.
Here’s an interesting article about Sister Lucia’s burial at Fatima in 2006.
The plaza around the shrine is enormous - giving one the idea of how many people do come during the significant devotional days. When we visited on an ordinary January morning, it was mostly empty, but the site is visited by more than six million pilgrims every year.
On the edge of the plaza is a tree - The Grand Oak - representing the tree in which Mary is said to have appeared and where the children prayed and waited for her each month. It’s not the “original” tree - but one of the same species, a holm-oak (“holy oak”) that came from a cutting of the original and was planted on the site. Holm oaks can live for a thousand years!
The Sanctuary of Fatima
The Sanctuary of Fatima.
- The Santuário de Fatima - is located near the tree and is a spare, modern structure where devotional activities take place.
In the center of the sanctuary - its main focus - is the original Chapel of the Apparitions (Capelinha das Aparições), a tiny, modest chapel that was built in 1919 to mark the spot of the apparitions. This is said to be where the original holm-oak stood. Sadly, the chapel was damaged by a bomb in 1922 and had to be rebuilt that year. There was still a lot of anti-religious feeling.
People often approach the Sanctuary and the Chapel of Apparitions on their knees as a sign of devotion and sacrifice, and there is a smooth walkway (kneel-way??) designated for this purpose. We didn’t want to be “peepers” so we kept our distance.
The only place we saw a line or crowd of any kind was in the shed where the faithful can light devotional candles. This was the biggest concentration of visitors we saw while in Fatima.
Like a lot of significant religious sites we have visited over the years, payment for lighting candles has evolved beyond the old-fashioned donation coin box to modern ways of taking payment - tapping credit cards or ApplePay. But they are still old-fashioned wax candles - with that familiar wax candle smell - and not the electric kind.
The Basilica of the Holy Trinity
- Basílica de Nossa Senhora do Rosário - is the most modern of the buildings in Fatima. It was built in order to accommodate the many visitors for services and can seat over 8000 worshippers! It’s not really a decorative or interesting building in any way, except perhaps for the giant yet very spare and modern crucifix out front.
Unless you are attending a service, I would skip it.
A statue atop The Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary.
These are the main points of interest at the pilgrimage site, but there are a few related attractions, including the small restored homes of the three shepherd children, featuring original furnishings that are presented to look as they did in 1917.
They offer the visitor a view of rural Portuguese life during the period of the apparitions. These houses are not that close by however; they are 2.2km south from the Sanctuary in the village of Aljustrel. But they are included in some guided tours.
There is also a museum near the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary.
Interested in other day trips from Lisbon? Read out post Great day trips from Lisbon.
When to visit Fatima
The Sanctuary of Fatima is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The Basilica is open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm, and the Museum from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.
The busiest times are the principal pilgrimage days, on the 13th day of each month from May to October, on the anniversaries of the original apparitions. So best to avoid these dates if not going for a religious experience.
The largest crowds gather on 13 May and 13 October, when the statue of Our Lady of Fatima is carried in procession, both in the daytime and by the light of tens of thousands of candles at night.
Part of the plaza outside The Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary.
How to get to Fatima
Driving is the best way to get from Lisbon to Fatima. It takes about 1hr 30min. There are several car parks available.
If you are driving, a notable stop only 45 minutes away is Nazare. You can read all about the seaside town in our post: Visiting Nazaré: what to see on a day trip
The only public transport that is feasible is a bus from Lisbon but it has to be booked in advance on the Rede Espressos website. (the main intercity bus service in Portugal).
We really think Fatima is one of those places that is best to visit on a small organized tour that incorporates other stops. There are lots of interesting places nearby - Nazaré, Obidos, Tomar, Coimbra, to name a few.
Here’s a link to the tour we took and really enjoyed: From Lisbon: Fatima, Batalha, Nazare, Obidos - Small Group
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This post was researched and written by Debbie of the Empty Nest Explorers. You can learn more about the Empty Nest Explorers here
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