Fátima - Esplanade

The esplanade that serves as the rallying point for the kneeling pilgrims is of huge proportions (150,000 sq.m/37 acres). It is dominated by the Neo Baroque Basilica, with its 65m/215ft high central tower. Building was begun on May 13, 1928 and it is flanked by colonnades linking it with the extensive conventual and hospital buildings. Inside the Basilica are the tombs of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who died in 1919 and 1920 respectively. The place where the Virgin Mary is supposed to have appeared to the children in the branches of an oak in 1917 is marked by the little chapel of the apparitions, the Capela das Apariçôes, in front of the Cathedral. The first chapel built here in 1918 was later destroyed by an explosion.