Named for a 12th-century Moorish princess, Fátima has since 1917 been one of the greatest Marian shrines in the world, visited by thousands of pilgrims annually.
On May 13, 1917, and each subsequent month until October, three young peasant children, Lucia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta, reportedly saw a lady who identified herself as the Lady of the Rosary. On October 13, a crowd (generally estimated at about 70,000) gathered at Fátima witnessed a "miraculous solar phenomenon" immediately after the lady had appeared to the children.
After initial opposition, the Bishop of Leiria on Oct. 13, 1930, accepted the children's visions as the appearance of the Virgin Mary. In the same year papal indulgences were granted to pilgrims. The content of the devotion includes frequent recitation of the rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The first national pilgrimage to Fátima took place in 1927, and the basilica was begun in 1928 and consecrated in 1953. With a tower, 213 ft (65 m) high, surmounted by a large bronze crown and a crystal cross, it is flanked by hospitals and retreat houses and faces a vast square in which is the little Chapel of the Apparitions.
Numerous cures have been reported, though publicity has not been sought. On the 50th anniversary of the first vision, May 13, 1967, a crowd of pilgrims, estimated to number 1,000,000, gathered at Fátima to hear Pope Paul VI say mass and pray for peace.