DAY 32 4 July Porto – Fátima - Obidos - Lisbon

Today we headed south to visit the miraculous Our Lady of Fátima. We saw the Basilica and the Chapel of the Apparitions, which commemorates the appearance of the Virgin Mary to three young shepherds in 1917.

Unfortunately, two of them were to die from Spanish influenza in 1919 or 1920 aged 10 and 9 at the time, so it's very sad. One, the oldest girl survived her two cousins, entered the convent and died in 2005. Her death led to a day of national mourning in Portugal.

This is the place said to be where the apparitions occurred.

We visited the fortified town of Obidos and walked inside its walls, exploring the narrow, medieval streets with houses covered with flowers.  We tasted the local cherry liqueur in a chocolate cup which you then eat.  It was something different.

St. Mary’s church is built on the site of a pre-existing Visigothic temple and was later used as a mosque. It has been rebuilt several times.  The inside of the church is decorated with lovely blue and white tiles.

St Peter’s church was built between 13/14^th centuries. It had been destroyed by the 1755 earthquake.

The aqueduct was commissioned by Queen Catherine of Austria in the 16^th century and it carried the water to the fountains.

We passed through the Lines of Torres Vedras. During the Napoleonic Wars, the French invaded Portugal and Wellesley, (later Wellington) had secretly organised three lines of defences to defend Lisbon against the French invasion. It was so secret that the British government did not know about it. Along with a scorched earth campaign, the French had no choice but to retreat.

Parts remain, some converted to windmills.