Santiago, Tomar or Fatima?
Fatima is large, very impressive but since Tomar is an ancient charming city, I like Tomar more. If you have time you should visit them both. From Lisbon you could walk a caminho to Fatima too, and afterwards continue via Tomar to Santiago. Then you have three-in-one! Santiago is of course the cherry on top of the cake!
Both Fatima and Tomar are not so far from our house, it is less than one hour drive, and a 3-days caminho. I had a look to photo’s we took in Fatima and Tomar, when we were here already in 2019.
Fatima
It is impressive to see that the whole square is packed with pilgrims and visitors who come here on the 13 of May and October. The daily processions at night are normal ones, but on the dates that the children saw Maria, it is really unbelievable beautiful to see all people carry a candle and move it up and down during the whole procession. The white handkerchiefs waving good bye the next morning after the whole procession is also impressive to see and feel. There is a strong vibe on the Fatima square, that is certain. To witness this 4-hour procession and praying the whole cold night and the whole hot morning is a little bit too much for visitor or tourist. Once I walked to Fatima, so I wasn’t a visitor or tourist, I came as a true pilgrim. Read in another blog of mine how it was on the big day!
Convent of Christ Tomar
I went to Tomar first, to the Convent of Christ, founded by the Knights Templars. It is really worth going in the castle. It is huge and it was a very important place. You will notice this when you are inside. When you enter the church of the castle, you really see how majestic it was. It is richly decorated, and you”ll see it had real power.
