The town of Fátima owes its name to the famous apparitions of Our Lady of Fátima before three humble young shepherds: the siblings Jacinta and Francisco Mato and their cousin Lúcia dos Santos.

Our Lady used to appear at Cova da Iria every 13th of each month between May and October 1917 to give 3 core messages to mankind: the vision of Hell where the souls of sinners would travel, the announcement of the Second World War and the religious persecution that would threaten the Holy Catholic Church.

The last apparition of our Blessed Mother took place on 13th October 1917 before more than 70,000 people, although only the three little shepherds could see and hear Her. But Our Lady, in her infinite wisdom, revealed her presence with the so-calledMiracle of the Sun: all the witnesses who were present saw how the sun was like a spinning silver disc, thus challenging the physical laws of science.

After the apparitions of the Virgin, the Vatican conducted several on-site researches that supported the story of the young shepherds: the devotion to the Virgin Mary was thus endorsed and the pilgrimage of worshippers to the place where Our Lady appeared begun.

In one of her apparitions, the Virgin Mary requested that a chapel in her honour was built in that, which nowadays is the core part of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima.

The Shrine of Fátima is comprised of the Chapel of Apparitions , Rosary Square , the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, the House of Our Lady of Carmel, the Rectory, the House of Our Lady of Dolours, the Pilgrim Shelter, Pius XII Square, the Paul VI Pastoral Centre and the new Basilica of Most Holy Trinity .

Until the present day, the big holm oak where the Virgin Mary appeared before the little shepherds is still part of the religious compound.