The chapel of the Apparitions is the “heart” of the Shrine of Fatima.

It was in the place of the Chapel that our Lady talked to the little shepherds. Out of the six apparitions of the Virgin Mary, five of them happened in this place – May, June, July, September and October – where, by the Lady’s indication, a chapel in her honour was to be constructed. Built between April 28 and June 15, 1919, it was later blessed, having Mass been celebrated there for the first time on October 13, 1921. Dynamited in the morning of  March 6, 1922, it was restored and reopened on January 13, 1923.

Though it was subjected to minor changes, the little Chapel of the Apparitions maintains the original traits, which are characteristic of a popular hermitage. The current porch was inaugurated during the first visit of John Paul II to the Shrine of Fatima, on the 12th and 13th of May 1982.