Aljustrel
The hamlet two kilometres south of the Cova da Iria where Lúcia, Francisco, and Jacinta were born and raised. Their family homes are kept as they were, and the well behind Lúcia's house is remembered as the second of the 1916 angel apparitions.
- Location
- Fatima
- Europe
- Visionary
- The three shepherd children
- Ss. Francisco and Jacinta Marto; Ven. Lúcia dos Santos
- Time needed
- 45 to 90 minutes
- Longer walked in with Valinhos and the Cabeço
The homes the children left behind.
Pilgrims come to Aljustrel to see where the three shepherd children were born, where they learned the Rosary, and where they carried the message of Fátima in ordinary family life. The house of the Marto family, where St. Francisco and St. Jacinta lived and where Francisco died in 1919, and the neighbouring house of Lúcia dos Santos are preserved much as they were. Behind Lúcia's house, the well of the Arneiro marks the place that the memoirs of Sister Lúcia name as the second apparition of the Angel of Peace in 1916.
What happened here.
A village of shepherds.
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1907–1910
The children are born
Lúcia dos Santos is born in Aljustrel in 1907, her cousin Francisco Marto in 1908, and his sister Jacinta in 1910. The families keep small flocks on the surrounding hills.
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1916
The angel at the well
According to the memoirs of Sister Lúcia, the second of the three apparitions of the Angel of Peace takes place in the summer of 1916 at the well behind her family's house. The angel calls the children to prayer and to sacrifice in reparation.
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1917
The year of the apparitions
From May to October 1917 the children walk from Aljustrel to the Cova da Iria, where they report the apparitions of Our Lady. Those apparitions are later declared worthy of belief by the Bishop of Leiria in 1930.
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1919
Francisco dies at home
St. Francisco Marto dies of influenza in the Marto house on 4 April 1919, at the age of ten.
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1920
Jacinta is taken to Lisbon
St. Jacinta Marto, after a long illness she offered for sinners, is taken to Lisbon for treatment and dies there on 20 February 1920, at the age of nine.
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Preserved
The homes are kept
The houses of the Marto family and of Lúcia dos Santos are preserved by the sanctuary and shown to pilgrims as part of the Fátima story.
A visit to the homes.
A common way pilgrims move through Aljustrel. Most keep some of it. The village lanes are largely level and walkable, though the surfaces are old and uneven in places; Aljustrel lies about two kilometres south of the sanctuary, reached on foot, by taxi, or by seasonal pilgrim shuttle.
- 01 The house of the Marto family Where St. Francisco and St. Jacinta lived and where Francisco died in 1919.
- 02 The house of Lúcia dos Santos The neighbouring home of the eldest of the three children.
- 03 The well of the Arneiro Behind Lúcia's house, the place the memoirs name as the second angel apparition of 1916. Pray in silence.
- 04 A Rosary on the walk Pray a decade on the lane between the homes and the Cova da Iria, as the children walked it.
What to notice, without rushing.
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01
The Marto family house
The home of St. Francisco and St. Jacinta, kept as it was. Francisco died here in 1919.
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02
The house of Lúcia dos Santos
The neighbouring home of the eldest of the three children, a short walk along the same lane.
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03
The well of the Arneiro
Behind Lúcia's house, the place the memoirs of Sister Lúcia name as the second apparition of the Angel of Peace in 1916.
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04
The lanes to the Cova
The paths the children walked to the Cova da Iria. Walking them in silence is part of the visit.
How long to stay, and what to pray.
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45 to 60 minutes The homes at AljustrelPilgrims visiting the village on foot or by shuttleThis plan saves
- The Marto family house
- The house of Lúcia dos Santos
- The well of the Arneiro
3 stops -
Half day on foot Aljustrel, the Cabeço, and ValinhosPilgrims walking the country sites togetherThis plan saves
- The homes at Aljustrel
- The well of the Arneiro
- Loca do Cabeço
- Valinhos
4 stops
The lives this shrine remembers.
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Shepherd child
St. Francisco Marto
1908–1919Born in Aljustrel, nine years old at the time of the 1917 apparitions. He offered his sufferings for sinners and died in the Marto family house in 1919. He was canonized in 2017.
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Shepherd child
St. Jacinta Marto
1910–1920The youngest of the three, born in Aljustrel. She offered a long illness for the conversion of sinners and for the Holy Father, and died in Lisbon in 1920. She was canonized in 2017.
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The eldest visionary
Ven. Lúcia dos Santos
1907–2005The eldest of the three children, born in Aljustrel. She later became a Carmelite at Coimbra and recorded the Fátima account in her memoirs. Her cause is open and she has been declared Venerable. She is not canonized.
The Fátima country south of the sanctuary
Aljustrel sits about two kilometres south of the Cova da Iria. The homes, the well, and the two hillside apparition sites lie within a short walk of one another, joined by the lanes the children used.
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The homes Aljustrel The hamlet of the Marto and dos Santos families.
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Second angel apparition The well of the Arneiro Behind Lúcia's house, the 1916 apparition recounted in her memoirs.
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Angel apparitions Loca do Cabeço The first and third angel apparitions of 1916.
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August 1917 apparition Valinhos The Marian apparition of 19 August 1917.
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The 1917 apparitions The Cova da Iria The sanctuary, two kilometres north.
Official shrine · fatima.pt
How we treat the devotion.
Catholics are not required to believe private revelations as part of the deposit of faith, even when devotion is permitted or encouraged.
Aljustrel is the hamlet two kilometres south of the Cova da Iria where the three shepherd children were born and raised. St. Francisco and St. Jacinta Marto were canonized in 2017; Lúcia dos Santos has been declared Venerable and her cause for canonization is open. The homes, and the nearby well of the Arneiro that the memoirs of Sister Lúcia name as the second apparition of the Angel of Peace in 1916, are preserved and shown by the sanctuary as documented places in the Fátima story.
Where a pilgrimage goes next.
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Loca do Cabeço
The rocky outcrop of the first and third angel apparitions of 1916
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Valinhos
The site of the Marian apparition of 19 August 1917
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Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary
The tombs of Ss. Francisco and Jacinta Marto and of Sister Lúcia
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Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima
The enclosed sanctuary at the Cova da Iria
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Catholic Fátima
The city hub for Fátima