Fátima, a town in Central Portugal which is best known for the alleged sightings of the Virgin Mary to three shepherd children between 1916-1917, will be celebrating the centennial of the main event (Centenário das Aparições de Fátima) next year. Annually, hundreds of thousands of devotees make a pilgrimage to Fátima on the significant dates of the apparitions: May 13 and October 13. Next year there is a comprehensive program of events planned that will no doubt attract unprecedented numbers, which is why I squeezed in as much as I could into this summer visit while we could still move around.
As the sign points out, this large area is a sacred site and lots of things are banned… including Ice the Dog. Paulo offered to take Ice while I took pictures and tried to take it all in. Not being a person of faith, the site takes some processing: the multitude of sanctuaries, chapels, statues, and rituals, the vast emptiness when it’s not filled with pilgrims, and especially the track upon which devotees crawl on their knees — usually women, with vows and prayers.
For further reading, Martin Gray of Sacred Sites covers the history of the Marian apparitions at Fátima within the context of the times (political and religious).
The official website: Shrine of Fátima (in 7 languages)
See also: Postcards From Fátima, Portugal
{ More photos in the trip album. }
July 31, 2016
Album: Central Portugal