Sanctuary Fatima

Hello everyone!

Today I'm going to talk to you about 3 different places that are very close to each other. We have done this route by ourselves, but some of our friends did it through a company that I have mentioned to you before - Erasmusland). That being said, today I'm going to tell you how we did it because, although the organised trip went well, there were some places that they couldn't explore.

Leiria is a city that has 63, 000 inhabitants that is close to Nazaré, Batalha, and Fátima. With this and a free weekend, we went on Saturday afternoon and made the first stop in Leiria. Here we rented an AirBnB for really cheap for 3 people, and we decided to take a little trip to buy food and see the city a little in the evening. I can't recommend any bars to you guys because we ate at home, but in other places:

The centre of the city is very beautiful and there are letters that spell out "Leiria" and they are illuminated.

The best thing to do in the evening is to take a trip around the centre and the little streets because it is not very big and therefore this part is the busiest and the best, and you will be able to see it all very quickly.

Our idea was to arrive here and see these things in the evening, go out clubbing here and the next day we would see the Leiria Castle, which is the most important thing.

At the beginning, we didn't know if there would be anywhere to go out or not, or what time people would go out until, but nevertheless we went to buy stuff at Pingo Doce. We met a couple of very nice boys there who told us where to go out and what the best club was for us to go to, and so because we didn't have much of an idea, we decided to go there.

The club was called Clube Suit and there were other places to go out next to it. We didn't go anywhere else because we entered this place and we loved it, from the atmosphere to the music and the disco, so we stayed here until it closed. It had two floors and it was really cool because there was a part that was full of mirrors in front of and behind the DJ.

The next day

When we got up the next morning we decided to go to the Leiria Castle straight away. You needed to pay to get in, but I think with a student card it was only €2. It is a beautiful place to see, it is very big and all enclosed. In the interior you can see what the old bedrooms were like and it has a kind of "terrace" or "balcony" with beautiful views towards the city.

In the evening, you can see everything illuminated from the lower part of the city, but obviously you can enter because it's only open during the day.

There is also a cathedral for you to see: the Cathedral of Leiria and another park, but the most important and essential part to see if you come to Leiria is the cathedral, all the rest is optional and I won't talk about them, given that I didn't visit them.

In the afternoon

After this, still without having eaten, we went for a walk to Fátma. On our arrival, we ate in one of the many places that were there, given that it is a very famous town and where thousands of tourists visit, and even more pilgrims. Here, even the waiter told us his "experience" with the Virgin Fátima, saying that she had saved him from being burnt to death in his house when a fire broke out (he even showed us his burns).

Once we arrived to the Sanctuary, without being religious, I have to say it is a place that, although I didn't fundamentally respect it, I really wanted to explore it. It surprised me a lot because, as well as never having seen any photos of this place, I didn't expect it to be so big, with so many people and such a good environment.

There are exhibitions throughout the year that change continually in this sanctuary. When we went, there was a gigantic rosary that they later removed and changed for something different.

I can't speak about it in a more informative way because I don't know anything about the background of this sanctuary, only that the virgin is the Virgin Fátima and that many pilgrims come here every day. Furthermore, there is a place (I'm sure you'll realise immediately when you see the amount of people there are) where they are having Mass, and just next to this there is a type of "bonfire" with lots of candles, where you can buy your own and set it alight, if you would like to. The truth is that it gave me a very strange feeling; I have been there twice, once with my mother who had to light one and when you're there, in that moment, you feel a lot of respect for this world.

Furthermore, you can see that there is a special type of carpet on the floor that is actually pieces of the floor painted white by the people who are asking for something, going from one end to the other on their knees. This is the most impressive thing you can see here because there are usually (if the weather allows) quite a few people doing it and the walk is quite long.

To finish off, the entrance is totally free and you don't have to spend a lot of time here because I'm going to explain our next destination.

The last destination of the day

This is the Mira Aire Caves. Maybe you have never heard of these, because I hadn't before now either. At the start, I didn't have the intention of going to see them, but then we felt a little curious and we went: it was great to go and see this immense world under the surface of the earth.

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These caves were discovered in 1947 and they are the largest caves in Portugal, which is strange seeing as almost nobody has ever heard of them! If you want to make a trip here, you should look at the timetable, as they close quite early. Furthermore, you will need to pay an entrance fee which I think I remember being around €7.

Once inside, you will be able to discover an incredible underground world full of stalactites and stalagmites, and water in every corner. Its beautiful illumination makes this visit more than unique, so if you have time, make sure you go around it.

Returning home

After everything that I have told you so far, the last destination was to return to Coimbra for the night. We finished visiting the caves quite later and after taking a tour around their outskirts, we headed on home. However, we could see all of this in just one weekend, so when you have a bit of time, don't think twice about planning a little escape to these beautiful places around Portugal.

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