A Landmark of Marian Worship
Located in the place where the first apparition took place the beautiful Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima, Santuário de Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima, in Chousa Velha, north of Lisbon, Portugal is a complex of shrines and religious monuments that honours the extraordinary events took place in 1917.
Within the Sanctuary is an expansive square where pilgrims gather on the 13th of each month for devotional services and the neo-Baroque Basilica of our Lady of the Rosary,
Rosário, with its towering 210-foot bell tower topped by a large bronze crown and a crystal cross that houses the tombs of the three children consecrated in 1953 and the Basilica of the Holy Trinity, da Santíssima Trindade, a modern church with the capacity to accommodate over 8000 pilgrims, completed in 2007 – one of the biggest Catholic churches in the world,
Chapel of The Apparitions
Completed in the 1920s the Capelinha das Aparições is a small chapel that was the first to be built in Fatima to mark the place where Our Lady first appeared to three children, within is a statue of Our Lady encased in glass on the very spot where the oak tree was where she appeared.
The chapel has since been enlarged with benches and a roof to accommodate the large number of pilgrims visiting the shrine.
The Homes of The Shepherds
Just a kilometre outside the town in the village of Aljustrel are the humble homes of the three shepherds, brother and sister Jacinta and Francisco Marto; as well as the home of their cousin Lúcia de Jesus dos Santos, now turned into museums where the original furniture and items have been preserved and offer a unique insight into life in rural Portugal in the early 20th century.