Homes Of The Shepherds (Museums Of Jacinta And Francisco Marto)

A kilometre or so from the great sanctuary of Fátima, the hamlet of Aljustrel is where three shepherd children lived in 1917: the cousins Lúcia dos Santos, Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto. It was to these children, according to Catholic tradition, that the Virgin Mary appeared at the Cova da Iria on the 13th of each month from May to October of that year, and Aljustrel has become a place of pilgrimage in its own right. The simple whitewashed houses where the children grew up have been preserved and opened to visitors.

The Marto home is the main focus of the visit. It is a modest farmhouse of a kind common in rural Portugal at the time, with thick stone walls, a tiled roof, a few small rooms and a kitchen with a hearth. The family lived by farming and sheep-keeping, and the children's job was to take the flock out to graze on the hills each day, which is how they came to be in the fields when the apparitions took place. The house has been kept as it was, with furniture, kitchen utensils, tools and household objects of the period, so that visitors can imagine the daily life of a poor country family in the early 20th century. Photographs and personal items help to tell the story.

The wider story of the children is a moving one. Francisco and Jacinta both died young, victims of the influenza epidemic that swept Europe after the First World War, Francisco in 1919 and Jacinta in 1920. They were declared saints by Pope Francis in 2017, which made them among the youngest non-martyred saints in the Catholic Church. Lúcia entered a convent and lived until 2005, and her family home, close by, can also be visited. Visitors often walk between the houses, and the lanes of the village have changed little.

Close to Aljustrel runs a path known as the Via Sacra, the Way of the Cross, marked by small chapels along the route, and the Valinhos, the place where further apparitions are said to have occurred in August 1917, can also be reached on foot. The walk from the main sanctuary takes about twenty minutes, and the route is a quiet, contemplative one for many pilgrims. Fátima's sanctuary, with its basilicas, the Chapel of the Apparitions and the large esplanade, lies a short distance away, and the Coin Cave and other caves of the region are nearby.

The houses are open in the daytime, with closing hours that vary by season and a midday break, so check before going. Admission has been free. Visitors are asked to behave respectfully, as the site is of deep spiritual significance. It suits pilgrims and curious visitors alike, and is best visited outside the large pilgrimage dates of 12 and 13 May and 12 and 13 October, when the area is very crowded.