Portugal has many tourist spots that we want to visit or that we have already seen, like Porto, Lisbon or the Algarve. But it is a place where we can find many other interesting places, such as Fatima, a place known for its sanctuary and for the legends and stories that have led to the creation of this pilgrimage point for many.
Let's see everything you can see and do in Fatima, since it is not only a place to visit the sanctuary, although it is its most important point. This city is small, but it has some interesting sights and is worth a trip to discover it.
The history of the sanctuary
The city of Fatima is located in the province Beira Litoral in the Central Region of Portugal. Until the nineties it did not become a city, since it was a small nucleus, but due to the influx of pilgrims it grew in importance, hence the term city was granted. The history of Fátima is linked to that of three shepherd children who in 1917 saw the apparition of the Virgin Mary in the Cova da Iria. It is in this place that today the Chapel of the Apparitions is located, since years later the construction of the basilica and the complex in honor of these apparitions began. Apparently the Virgin revealed three secrets to these three shepherds. The message he brought was a call to constant prayer.
How to get to Fatima
Getting to the city of Fátima is very simple, because that is where the A1 motorway that goes from Lisbon to Porto, one of the main roads in the country. There is a direct exit to Fatima through which you can reach the sanctuary in a few minutes. In addition, this city has its own bus station, with lines that go to Lisbon or Porto, so this transport can be another alternative. It is not possible to get there by train, since the nearest station stop is about 22 kilometers away.
Sanctuary of Fatima
The Sanctuary is undoubtedly the place of pilgrimage through which hundreds of people come to this city every year. This is a large enclosure in which we also find a huge square in which believers gather at certain times. The 13 days of each month from May to October There are small and large pilgrimages in the area, so if you agree, it is a good day to see how the importance of this place has grown for the Catholic faith.
This sanctuary is a large complex formed by the Chapel of the Apparitions, in the place where the Virgin appeared to the shepherds, the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, the Chapel of San José and the Church of the Holy Trinity. Throughout the city it is possible to find some statues placed at the key points of the apparitions.
La Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary has a neo-baroque style. Its construction began a few decades after the apparitions, when this place began to be seen as a place of worship and pilgrimage. This basilica was erected in the place where apparently the shepherds saw the radiance of the Virgin, which seemed to them a storm. The Chapel of the Apparitions was at first a small building, the first to be created, but today it is a small modern chapel with an image of the Virgin where the tree in which she appeared was.
Caves of the Currency
Beyond the Fatima sanctuary complex, there are a few things to see. The Caves of the Currency They are caves discovered in the seventies by chance by hunters. Rock formations in the interior of the earth with several chambers created by the action of water over thousands of years. There is also an interpretation center where we can learn more about how these caves were formed and see some fossils from the Jurassic.
Visit Ourém
If we get tired of the religious fervor of Fatima, there are some nearby visits that can be a breath of fresh air. Ourém is only ten kilometers away and it is an old villa with great charm. At the top of the town stands a beautiful castle considered one of the most beautiful in Portugal. A construction that began to rise in the XNUMXth century. Another old building in this beautiful town is the Palace of the Counts from the XNUMXth century, which was created when it was reconquered by the Portuguese from the Arabs. In Ourém we can also visit its Municipal Museum and the Natural Monument of Pegadas dos Dinossáurios, where there is the oldest record of sauropod footprints in the world.