Fátima, Portugal

Fátima () is a city in the municipality of Ourém and district of Santarém in the Oeste e Vale do Tejo Region of Portugal, with 71.29 km<sup>2</sup> of area and 13,212 inhabitants (2021). The homonymous civil parish encompasses several villages and localities of which the city of Fátima is the largest.

The civil parish has been permanently associated with Our Lady of Fátima, a series of 1917 Marian apparitions that were purportedly witnessed by three local shepherd children at the Cova da Iria. The Catholic Church later recognized these events as "worthy of belief". A small chapel was built at the site of the apparition in 1919, and a statue of Mary installed. The chapel and statue have since been enclosed within the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima, a shrine complex containing two minor basilicas. Associated facilities for pilgrims, including a hotel and medical centre, have also been built over the decades within and around the Sanctuary. The city has become an important international destination for religious tourists, receiving between 6 and 8 million pilgrims yearly.

History

Name origin

The name of the town and parish is a rendition of the Arabic given name Fátima ( ) which also happens to be the name of the daughter of Prophet Muhammad. According to the traditional narrative, Fátima was said to be the name of a Moorish princess kidnapped by a knight, Gonçalo Hermigues, and his companions. Hermigues took her to a small village in the Serra de Aire hills, in the recently established Kingdom of Portugal. Fatima fell in love with her kidnapper and decided to convert to Christianity to marry him. She was baptized and given the Christian name "Oureana". However, the place name recalls the princess' original Arab name rather than her Christian one.

Marian apparitions and "Sun miracle"

The parish was founded in 1568, when it was annexed by the Collegiate of Ourém (). For centuries, most of the villagers kept herds of sheep and depended on subsistence farming.

Later in the early 20th century, a similar event took place in which three local children, Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, purportedly saw visions of a woman known as Our Lady of Fátima, since believed by the Catholic Church to be the Virgin Mary. On 13 May 1917, whilst guarding their families' sheep in the Cova da Iria, the children first claimed to have seen an apparition of a "lady dressed in white" and shining with a bright light.

thumb|225px|left|A close-up of the Christian pilgrims during the [[Miracle of the Sun on 13 October 1917.]]

thumb|225px|left|An image of the crowd during the last apparition in [[Cova da Iria.]]

thumb|225px|left|Monument of the [[Guardian Angel of Portugal apparition to the three little shepherd children of Fátima.]]

225px|left|thumb|Statue dedicated to the apparition of Our Lady which occurred exceptionally in Valinhos, near the [[Cova da Iria.]]

The three shepherd children were born in Aljustrel, a small hamlet about from Fátima.

The chapel has since been enclosed within a large basilica and sanctuary, part of a complex including a hotel and other facilities.

Subsequent development

The construction of the sanctuary and the steady visits by pilgrims stimulated local development. In addition to construction of a large shrine, basilica, and sanctuary, the complex includes a hotel and other facilities. The town of Fátima was elevated to the status of city on 12 July 1997.

In the early 21st century, numerous residents of the parish (primarily from its business sector) worked to have Fátima designated as an independent municipality. The project, led by Júlio Silva, engineer and ex-president of the Junta de Freguesia (Parish Council), was vetoed in July 2003 by Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio.

Twin towns – Sister cities

Fátima is twinned with:

Częstochowa in Poland
Loreto in Italy

Papal visits

thumb|[[Pope Benedict XVI at the time of the delivery of the second Golden Rose to the Virgin of Fatima in May 2010]]

thumb|[[Pope Paul VI|Paul VI with Sister Lúcia, 1967]]

thumb|[[Pope Francis in Fatima, 2017]]

May 1967 – Pope Paul VI
May 1982 – Pope John Paul II (1st visit)
May 1991 – Pope John Paul II (2nd visit)
May 2000 – Pope John Paul II (3rd visit)
May 2010 – Pope Benedict XVI
May 2017 – Pope Francis (1st visit)
August 2023 – Pope Francis (2nd visit)

Architecture

Civic

Bus station of Fátima ()
Cistern of Gaiola ()
Cistern of Ramila ()
Cistern of Capuchos ()
Civil Parish Building of Fátima ()
Fountain of Alveijar ()
Fountain of Lameira ()
Fountain of Soudo Well ()
Fountain of Vale da Pena ()
Fountain New ()
House of Casal Farto ()
Main avenue of Fátima ()
Mills of Fátima ()
Mills of Fazarga ()
Mills of Giesteira ()
Mill of Ortiga ()
Monument of the Three Little Shepherds ()
Old mill of Ramila ()
Olive Oil Press in Estrada das Matas ()
Porch House with Sundial ()
Residence of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, visionaries of Fátima ()
Residence of Lúcia dos Santos ()
Threshing-floor of Ramila ()

Religious

thumb|center|900px|Panoramic view of the [[Sanctuary of Fátima|Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima (with the Chapel of the Apparitions, the Sacred Heart statue and the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary)]]

thumb|225px|The [[Basilica of the Holy Trinity (Fátima)|Basilica of the Holy Trinity is the 5th largest Roman Catholic Church in the world.]]

225px|right|thumb|The [[Stations of the Cross|Way of the Cross in Valinhos.]]

225px|right|thumb|The Calvary in Fátima, Portugal.

225px|right|thumb|The [[Parish Church of Fátima.]]

225px|right|thumb|The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Ortiga.

Chapel of Casal Farto ()
Chapel of Lombo de Égua ()
Chapel of Our Lady of Conception ()
Church of Our Lady of Livramento ()
Church of Saint Anthony ()
Basilica of the Holy Trinity (), on the far side of the sanctuary's esplanade is the basilica, a neo-classical structure with a central tower high, which was begun on 13 May 1928. It is flanked by colonnades linking it with the extensive convent and hospital buildings. Within the basilica are the tombs of the three witnesses to the apparitions: Jacinta and Francisco Marto and Lúcia dos Santos. The Church of the Holy Trinity, one of the largest churches in the world, was built on the other side of the esplanade in the early 21st century.
Sanctuary of Fátima ()
Chapel of the Apparitions ()
Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary ()
Sanctuary of Our Lady of Ortiga ()
Parochial church of Fátima ()
Stations of the Cross of Valinhos ()
Statues of the Angel of Portugal (), at the Loca do Cabeço and at the Poço do Arneiro (well of Arneiro) in Aljustrel
Chapel of Saint Stephen of Hungary ()
Byzantine Chapel of the Holy Dormition (), identified by its distinctive onion dome. Located at Domus Pacis, the headquarters of the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fátima. Used by the local Ukrainian Greek Catholic community.

Culture

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima, in Cova da Iria, is the principal focus of all visitors. Annually, at least five million Catholic pilgrims fill the country roads leading to the Marian shrine. Numbers can reach hundreds of the thousands on 13 May and 13 October, the most significant dates of the apparitions in Fátima.

Sports

Fátima's major sports club is the Sport Center of Fátima, currently in Portuguese football's second tier, the LigaPro.

References

External links

– Official website
Sanctuary of Fátima – Online transmissions
Pilgrims of Fátima – Official website
Fatima in Sister Lucia's own words – Free online version of the memoir book written by Sister Lucia dos SantosLúcia de Jesus Rosa dos Santos, OCD
The True Story of Fatima – Free online version of the book written by Father John de Marchi, IMC
Video documentary: Portugal in 150 seconds: Fátima