Cova da Iria

Cova da Iria is a quarter in the city and civil parish of Fatima, in Portugal. Several of the reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary witnessed by the three children-shepherds of Fatima in 1917 took place here.

This venerable neighborhood is considered the wealthy area of the city of Fatima where, currently, there are numerous convents, hotels and pilgrims' hostels. It is located near the places of Aljustrel and Valinhos.

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, received several apparitions and heavenly messages by the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.^{[citation needed]}

The children frequently pastured their families' sheep on this land, and were responsible for caring for them. According to Sister Lúcia's memoirs, written between 1935 and 1941, she and her cousins were at the Cova da Iria when they experienced an apparition of a beautiful lady "made of light, holding a rosary in her hand". She seemed to stand just above a holm-oak tree, and they heard her tell them not to be afraid, saying "I come from Heaven". Lúcia wrote that they saw the lady a total of six more times, the last on October 13, 1917, when the Miracle of the Sun allegedly occurred. The children heard her tell them to pray the rosary to obtain the end of the Great War.^{[citation needed]}

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 Fatima,^[1] writing in a pastoral letter: "The visions of the children in the Cova da Iria are worthy of belief".^[2]

Since the Holy See officially approved Fatima Marian apparitions 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 basilicas 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 Fatima, Portugal, has become in one of the most important international destinations of religious tourism, receiving between six and eight million pilgrims by year.^[3][4]

See also

• Sanctuary of Fátima
• Parish Church of Fátima
• The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima, 1952 film
• Life of Christ Museum
• Wax Museum of Fátima

Notes

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Cova da Iria.