We arrived in Fátima, Portugal on Sunday afternoon. The Blessed Mother appeared here and in the surrounding area on six occasions in 1917. According to a very friendly gift shop clerk, Sundays are the most popular day of the week. Since the apparitions, this town has grown significantly and on any given day there are more pilgrims than residents. The population of the town is eight thousand, but there are over forty hotels to accommodate the four million people who visit each year. Our guide told us that 600,000 people were present for the Pope’s visit just two weeks ago. The visited area consists of three main buildings: (1) The Chapel of Apparitions; (2) The Basilica and (3) the new church all of which are situated on an expansive esplanade. The chapel marks the area where five of the six apparitions occurred; the basilica, built in the 1920s holds the tombs of the three shepherds who saw the Virgin Mary and; the third building, completed in 2007, is the fourth largest Catholic Church in the world accommodating 9,000 people.
I love these blogs Arantxa! As a kid I used to read tons of books about the apparitions in Fatima, they continue to fascinate me. I feel like I'm there with you. I can't begin to fathom your travel experiences.
ReplyDeletebesos!