"A place of Pilgrimages" a Fátima Travel Page by Kiriel

About an hour and a half's drive from Lisbon, Fatima is a place of pilgrimage for thousands of people from all over the world. On the thirteenth of May, 1917, Mary appeared to three children in the tiny village.

She appeared again, every month for 6 months, and on the 13th of October 70,000 people witnessed the sun dancing in the sky.

Since then a shrine, cathedral and fountain have sprung up in the area, and a strange mixture of sanctity and commercialism exist side by side.

The shrine and square were peaceful on the Sunday of my visit. Visitors gathered to pray at the chapel which is based around where the vision of Mary was seen. Many crawled around the shrine on their knees: apparently some travel for kilometres on their knees as part of the pilgrimage.

Others gathered around a long blackened wall, lighting candles and offering prayers.

On a nearby altar are strewn wax limbs. People buy a wax copy of the body part which is afflicted and leave it with prayers for a cure.

You cannot help but be moved by the faith of those gathering there, whether you are a believer or not.

There is a lot of commercialism surrounding the square; stall after stall selling religious items. But there are no pedlars in the square itself, so if you want to avoid it, you can.