Fátima is a world famous city in the historic province of Beira Litoral in Portugal. Fátima is a world-famous place of Christian pilgrimage in commemoration of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary reported by three little shepherds – Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta – from May 13 until October 13 of 1917.
The Catholic Church later recognized these events as "worthy of belief". A small chapel, now known as the Chapel of the Apparitions, was built at the site of the supernatural events, and a precious statue of Our Lady of Fátima installed.
Due to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima, a Marian shrine complex containing two minor basilicas in Cova da Iria, the city has become in one of the most important international destinations for religious tourism, receiving between 6 and 8 million pilgrims by year. It attracts religious people and also those who seek the kind of peaceful lifestyle usually only found in convents and monasteries.
- Wikivoyage
