Cova da Iria is a quarter in the city and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

of Fátima, Santarém District, Portugal. Several of the reported Marian apparitions of

Our Lady of Fátima Our Lady of Fátima ( pt, Nossa Senhora de Fátima, ); formally known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Fátima) is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus, based on the Marian apparitions reported in 1917 by three shepherd children at the C ...

witnessed by the three small children-shepherds of Fátima in 1917 took place here. This notorious neighborhood is considered the wealthy area of the city of Fátima where, currently, there are numerous

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

s, hotels and pilgrims' hostels. It is located near the places of

Aljustrel Aljustrel () is a town and a municipality in the Portuguese district of Beja. The population in 2011 was 9,257, in an area of 458.47 km2. The present mayor is Nelson Domingos Brito, elected by the Socialist Party. The municipal holiday is ...

and

Valinhos Valinhos () is a municipality (''município'') in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is the birthplace of Adoniran Barbosa. Valinhos is famous for its purple fig, the theme of its annual Fig Fest. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Campi ...

History

Cova da Iria was originally a field belonging to the family of Lúcia dos Santos in Fátima, Portugal. Lúcia and Francisco and Jacinta Marto were the three visionary children who, according to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, received several apparitions and heavenly messages by the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. The children frequently pastured their families' sheep on this land, and were responsible for caring for them. In the

water well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. T ...

of Lúcia's house they received an apparition of an angel who presented himself as the Guardian Angel of Portugal. On May 13, 1917, around noon, the three little shepherds saw an apparition of a beautiful lady "made of light, holding a rosary in her hand". It is told that suddenly there was lightning, and the children began to run for shelter. Just above an oak tree, they saw again the vision of the woman, later known as Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima, who told them not to be afraid. She said: "I come from Heaven". They saw the lady a total of six more times, the last on October 13, 1917, when the Miracle of the Sun allegedly occurred. She told them to pray the rosary to obtain the end of the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. A small chapel (which was later popularly called Chapel of the Apparitions) was built at this site in the 1920s, when people were already making devotional pilgrimages there. In October 1930, the Bishop of Leiria, Dom José Alves Correia da Silva, gave his seal of approval to the reported apparitions of Our Lady of Fátima, writing in a pastoral letter: "The visions of the children in the Cova da Iria are worthy of belief". Since the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

officially approved Fátima

Marian apparition A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by Mary, the mother of Jesus, or a series of related such appearances during a period of time. In the Catholic Church, in order for a reported appearance to be classified as a Marian a ...

s and the messages given to the three shepherd children, the place has become an important center of pilgrimage. People from all over the world travel to it in a spirit of faith and penance. The chapel has been expanded and is now much larger, enclosed within two

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

s in the Sanctuary of Fátima complex. Also on the grounds are luxurious hotels, a lot of convents and some medical facilities. Cova da Iria, in Fátima, Portugal, has become in one of the most important international destinations of religious tourism, receiving between six and eight million pilgrims by year."Fátima expects to receive 8 million visitors in 2017"
in Sapo20, 15 December 2016.

Notes

External links

* – Official website
Sanctuary of Fatima
– Online transmissions
Pilgrims of Fatima
– Official website
"''Fatima in Sister Lucia's own words''"
– Free online version of the memoir book written by Sister Lucia, O.C.D.
"The True Story of Fatima"
– Free online version of the book written by Father John de Marchi, I.M.C. * Video documentary
''Portugal in 150 seconds: Fatima''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cova Da Iria Our Lady of Fátima Catholic pilgrimage sites Geography of Portugal

History

See also

Notes

External links