From Lisbon: Fátima, Nazaré, Batalha and Óbidos Guided Tour

dentity and mission of the Shrine of Fatima

The Shrine of our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima is the answer to the call of Our Lady of the Rosary, already alluded to on August 13, 1917 and expressly asked in the apparition of October 13, of that year to Lucia de Jesus, Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto: «I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in my honour. I am the Lady of the Rosary» (Fist Memoir of Sister Lucia). The little chapel was constructed in 1919 in the place of the apparitions of 1917 at the Cova da Iria and, since then, the place of the Shrine was built up, in response to a significant inflow of pilgrims.

The Shrine of Fatima is a place of pilgrimage, which celebrates the memory of its founding event, the apparitions of Our Lady to the three little Shepherds. The pilgrim’s pastoral hospitality is a key element to its mission.

The Shrine of Fatima keeps the memory of the event and the message of Fatima. It has the mission of studying and diffusing this message, worked as a means of evangelization in Portugal and worldwide.

The Shrine of Fatima is, by an expressed will of the Apostolic See, a National Shrine.

The construction of this Mannerist style monument began in the reign of D. Sebastião in 1577, aiming to defend the cove of attacks by Algerian, Moroccan, Dutch and Norman pirates who invested on the Atlantic coast. In 1644, and due to its position, the king D. João IV, the Restorer, ordered its remodeling and enlargement. As vigilant sentry of the fortress was S. Miguel Archangel, patron of many sanctuaries, generally constructed in elevated places. On the façade of the fort, on the portal of the entrance, D. João IV, he had a calcareous image of San Miguel Arcanjo, with the caption "ELREY DOM JUAN-1644", which marks the year of its construction.

The medieval village of Óbidos is one of the most picturesque and well preserved in Portugal.

Close enough to the capital and situated on a high point near the Atlantic coast, Óbidos had a strategic importance in the territory. Already occupied before the Romans arrived in the Iberian Peninsula, the village became more prosperous from the moment it was chosen by the royal family. Since the king D. Dinis offered to his wife D. Isabel, in the century. XIII, belonged to the House of the Queens who, throughout the various dynasties, were benefiting and enriching it. It is one of the main reasons for finding so many churches in this small town.

Within walls, we find a castlewell preserved and a labyrinth of streets and white houses that enchant anyone who walks there. Between Manueline porticoes, flowered windows and small openings, there are several reasons to visit, good examples of the religious and civil architecture of the village's golden age.