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Fátima (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈfatimɐ] (
listen)) is a city in Portugal famous for the Marian apparitions, recognized by the Catholic Church, that took place there in 1917. The town itself has a population of 7,756 and is located in Ourém Municipality, in the Centro Region and Médio Tejo Subregion. It is in Santarém District and is included in the urban agglomeration of Leiria, in central Portugal, 187 km (116 mi) south of Porto and 123 km (76 mi) north of Lisbon.
The name of the town (formerly a small village) comes from the Arabic name Fatima (Fāṭimah, Arabic: فاطمة ).
Fátima became famous for the affluence of pilgrims to the Marian shrine (with a largest Basilica dedicated to Our Lady), built to commemorate the religious events of 1917 when three shepherd children reported several apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of "Our Lady of the Rosary". The children - Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Blessed Jacinta and Francisco Marto - experienced the reported Marian apparitions in a pasture called Cova da Iria.
