Places of the apparitions

Places of the apparitions
 

Chapel of the Apparitions

The chapel of the Apparitions is the "heart" of the Shrine of Fatima.

It was in the place of the Chapel that our Lady talked to the little shepherds. Out of the six apparitions of the Virgin Mary, five of them happened in this place – May, June, July, September and October – where, by the Lady’s indication, a chapel in her honour was to be constructed. Built between April 28 and June 15, 1919, it was later blessed, having Mass been celebrated there for the first time on October 13, 1921. Dynamited in the morning of  March 6, 1922, it was restored and reopened on January 13, 1923.

Though it was subjected to minor changes, the little Chapel of the Apparitions maintains the original traits, which are characteristic of a popular hermitage. The current porch was inaugurated during the first visit of John Paul II to the Shrine of Fatima, on the 12th and 13th of May 1982. During the Marian Year, in 1988, the ceiling was lined with pinewood, from northern Siberia, a wood chosen for its lightness and durability.

The plinth where the statue of Our Lady lies marks the site where the small holm oak on which the Lady of the Rosary appeared used to be.

The Chapel’s organ was built by the organ maker Gerhard Grenzing. It has twelve records and two manual keyboards and pedal. Dedicated almost exclusively to the accompaniment of the celebrations, it allows, thanks to its particularly cared timbres, the interpretation of sacred repertoire works in a liturgical framework.

Loca do Cabeço

The Loca do Cabeço is the place where, according to the Fatima sources, the first and the third apparition of the Angel to the seers took place.

The images that stand there, representing the Angel and the three children, are from Maria Amélia Carvalheira da Silva. The grid, in forged iron, is the work of Domingos Soares Branco.

The Well of Arneiro

On the backyard of Lucia's house there is a well that became known because of the second apparition of the Angel, in the summer of 1916. It was there that Jacinta had a vision of the holy father crying and praying on his knees in a big house.

The images of the Angel and the little shepherds that exist there are the work of the sculptress Maria Irene Vilar.

Valinhos

Between the 8th and 9th station of the Way of the Cross in the Path of the little Shepherds, there is the place where the fourth apparition of Our Lady, on August 19, 1917, ocurred.

The monument that marks the event was constructed with donations from the Hungarian Catholics. The image was sculptured by Maria Amélia Cavalheira da Silva and the niche where it stands was architected by António Lino.