Day Trips · fatima

A Day in Fatima

40 minutes from Nazaré · Sanctuary of Our Lady Fatima

Let’s grab a few friends and head from Nazaré to Fatima for the day....

As ocean slowly disappears behind us, the roads get quieter and before long, we’re surrounded by rolling hills, little villages and the Portuguese countryside.

Then we arrive and the first thing you notice is the size of the place...it's enormous.

But even with all the people walking around, there’s a peacefulness here.

Some are carrying rosaries, lighting candles and others have travelled thousands of kilometres just to stand in this exact spot.

Let’s wander through the basilica, look up at the stained-glass windows and listen to our footsteps echo through the church...Inside are the tombs of three children whose story changed Fátima forever...

Then we’ll walk over to the little Chapel of the Apparitions. It’s the small chapel that stands close to the place where Lúcia dos Santos and her two younger cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto said the Virgin Mary appeared to them.

Now after wandering through the church, let’s find a little café, grab a coffee and a pastry and I’ll tell you how all of this began.

Fun fact

Picture this...It’s May 13, 1917.

Three children are looking after their family’s sheep in an area known as Cova da Iria. Lúcia is 10 years old. Francisco is 9 and his younger sister Jacinta is only 7.

According to the children, they saw a sudden flash of light and then a woman dressed in white standing above a small holm oak tree and described her as being brighter than the sun.

She asked them to pray and to return to the same place on the 13th day of each month for the next six months.

Now here’s what’s super strange...

The three children didn’t experience the apparitions in exactly the same way. Lúcia said she could see, hear and speak with the woman, Jacinta could see and hear her, but she never spoke to her and Francisco could see her, but he couldn’t hear what she was saying. Lúcia and Jacinta had to tell him everything afterwards.

People began travelling to Fátima hoping to see something for themselves.

The crowds grew larger every month and on October 13, thousands gathered for what the children said would be the final apparition.

After that day, Fátima would never be the same.

Before all this happened, Fátima was a quiet rural community of fields, sheep and families trying to make a living.

Declared Saints...

Francisco and Jacinta both died very young, only a few years after the apparitions. Lúcia became a nun and lived until 2005, dying at the age of 97...Francisco and Jacinta were later declared saints by Pope Francis during his visit to Fátima in 2017.