Many pilgrims go to Fatima in May

peregrina2000 said:

Just in case there are others heading out from Lisbon in early May, I thought I would re-post some aadvice given by Mario, owner of the Santarem Hostel:

Please be aware, that May is the month of pilgrimage to Fátima.

May 13 is the celebration day in Fátima. So, from Lisbon to Fátima (with Santarem in the middle), during May 8 to May 11, albergues and other places to sleep might be very busy.

We (Santarem Hostel) are already full on May 10 and we are two days walking to Fatima.

If you are going to be on the Caminho from Lisboa during that time, it'd be a good idea to contact Santarem Hostel ahead of time.

Thanks for the heads up, Mario.

(By the way, for those who may not know, from Lisboa the route to Santiago and Fatima are the same, but only until Santarem, at which point the route to Fatima turns west).

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Agreed - EVERYTHING is full in May all the way to San Joachim. We had to bus past some of our planned stops since nothing was available, not even floor space in the bombeiros. Also - ask directions at the hostel on before you leave Santarem. When you get to the lower city there were no arrows in sight in 2012. We asked directions down there and were sent a very long distance out of our way.

The 13th October is also a pilgrimage can not say which one gets most people going but they are both big dates. The various routes grow in strength year on year and a lot are being taken off road. 2017 will be the big year for these routes, it is the 100th anniversary of the happenings.

mikevasey said:

The 13th October is also a pilgrimage can not say which one gets most people going but they are both big dates. The various routes grow in strength year on year and a lot are being taken off road. 2017 will be the big year for these routes, it is the 100th anniversary of the happenings.

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Usually it's the month of May, although in 2017, probably it will be the October.

peregrina2000 said:

So, Diogo, are you saying the pilgrimage officially takes place only be one month a year, but it varies between May and October? How do they decide which month? Thanks, Laurie

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No, no, nothing like that Laurie.

The story of the Nossa Senhora de Fátima (Lady of Fatima), it's a story of months. Don't wanting to overcharge you with a lot of information, basically, on May 13th 1917 it was the first apparition of the Lady of Fatima to the 3 little shepherds. The apparitions continued to October 1917 (the last apparition, where the miracle happened), always at the 13th day of the month. So, you will always find pilgrims going to Fatima, but the majority goes in May and October, due to this two important events.

It's also important to say that, on the 13th of August, you will always find a lot of people in Fatima, since the month of August it's the month that a lot of Portuguese emigrants come to Portugal to spend their vacations, and they take also the chance to go on pilgrimage to Fatima (most of them by car, but they still sleep in there).