Fátima, Portugal

This article is about the city in Portugal. For the name Fátima, see Fatima (name). For other uses, see Fatima (disambiguation).

Fátima
Our Lady of Fátima Basilica
Coat of arms
Fátima Location within Portugal
Coordinates: 39°38′N 08°40′W / 39.633°N 8.667°W / 39.633; -8.667
Country	Portugal
District	Santarém
Municipality	Ourém
Parishes	1
Area
– Total	71.29 km2 (27.5 sq mi)
Population (2011)
– Total	11,538
– Density	144/km2 (373/sq mi)
Time zone	GMT (UTC0)

Fátima (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈfatimɐ] ( listen)) is a city in Portugal famous for the religious visions that took place there in 1917. The town itself has a population of 7,756^[1] and is located in the municipality of Ourém, in the Centro Region and sub region of Médio Tejo. It is in the district of Santarém and is included in the urban agglomeration of Leiria, in central Portugal, 187 km (116 mi) south of Porto and 123 km (76 mi) north of Lisbon.

Toponomy

The name of the town (formerly a small village) comes from the Arabic name Fatima (Fāṭimah, Arabic: فاطمة ).

Marian apparitions

Fátima is famous for the shrine called the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, built to commemorate the events of 1917 when three peasant children allegedly saw the "Virgin of the Rosary", Our Lady of Fátima. When the children asked for her name, she said "I am The Lady of The Rosary". The children experienced the reported Marian apparitions in a pasture called the Cova da Iria

Economy

The economy of the town relies on religious tourism. Fátima now attracts hosts of believers from far and wide, particularly on the pilgrimage days, and the shrine has been developed on a correspondingly large scale. The town has a considerable number of shops and stalls selling all kinds of religious articles, and the streets of the town have plenty of hotels, hostels and restaurants.

Religious events

The Marian shrine in Fátima attracts a large number of Catholics, and every year pilgrims fill the country road that leads to the shrine with crowds that approach one million on May 13 and October 13, the significant dates of Fátima apparitions.^[2]

On the far side of the esplanade rises the gigantic basilica, in neo-classical style, with a central tower 65 metres (213 ft) high, the construction of which was begun on 13 May 1928. It is flanked by colonnades linking it with the extensive conventual and hospital buildings. In the basilica are the tombs of the three seers, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, who died in 1919 and 1920 respectively in the Spanish flu pandemic, and were beatified in 2000, and Lúcia dos Santos who died in 2005. The Igreja da Santíssima Trindade, one of the largest churches in the world, was built on the other side of the esplanade during the 2000s.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Portugal

Twin towns - Sister cities

Fátima is twinned with:^[3]

• Częstochowa in Poland^[3]
• Loreto in Italy^[3]
• Altötting in Germany^[3]
• Lourdes in France^[3]
• Selçuk in Turkey^[3]

Sports

Fátima's major sports club is the Centro Desportivo de Fátima, currently in Portuguese football's second tier, the Liga Vitalis.

Gallery

• 

  Basilica of the Rosary

• 

  Inside the Basilica

• 

  The Chapel of Apparitions

• 

  Church of the Most Holy Trinity, the 4th largest Catholic Church in the World

See also

Portugal portal

• Three Secrets of Fátima
• Our Lady of Fátima
• Shrines to the Virgin Mary
• Marian apparition
• Pope John Paul II
• The Miracle of the Sun
• Church of the Most Holy Trinity

References

Notes

1. ^ UMA POPULAÇÃO QUE SE URBANIZA, Uma avaliação recente - Cidades, 2004^{[dead link]} Nuno Pires Soares, Instituto Geográfico Português (Geographic Institute of Portugal)
2. ^ Trudy Ring, 1996, International Dictionary of Historic Places, ISBN 9781884964022 page 245
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Association of Towns awarded The Europe Prize". www.czestochowa.um.gov.pl. http://www.czestochowa.um.gov.pl/europeprize/altotting.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 

External links

• Sanctuary of Fátima — Official Website
• The Chapel of Apparitions (Live 24h) — Official Website
• Our Lady of Fátima Statuary
• News and information about Fátima
• TV Fátima — News about Fátima
• FátimaShop - The first store of Fátima in the Internet
• Tourist information about Fátima
• Wax Museum of Fátima
• Fátima Hotels Booking Service
• Fátima Oil Paintings
• Pictures of Fátima

Coordinates: 39°38′N 08°40′W / 39.633°N 8.667°W / 39.633; -8.667