#86 In the Supermarket of Souls

March 6, 2022: Batalha, Fatima, Tomar

F. That we went on a pilgrimage on Sunday was once again a total coincidence, like so much on our trip. It was also by chance that we passed by Batalha on the way to Fatima and were able to take a quick look at a beautiful and huge monastery. The church of the monastery was holding a mass when we arrived, so we limited ourselves to exploring the monastery. It consists of three large cloisters that were gradually added to the main church. The rooms that branch off from the cloisters are sometimes very large, have no columns for ceiling support, and are an architectural masterpiece for the time. In one of the large halls, there is the tomb of the unknown soldier, guarded by two soldiers every day. The last addition to the church was supposed to be a large mausoleum, but it was never fully completed.

During our trip, Jenny and I have already seen many large church buildings from the 13th to the 18th century. But so far, there have been no large church buildings from the 20th century. That was about to change with our visit to Fatima. In the second half of the 20th century, a gigantic pilgrimage site of the Catholic Church was built here. Just to give you an idea of the current situation: the church is the fourth largest in the world with 7,000 seats, the church square is twice the size of St. Peter's Square, and over 7 million people visit Fatima every year. Although the pilgrims don't really come to Fatima, but to a pilgrimage site that was built in a field near Fatima. Because here, in 1917, the luminous figure of the Holy Mother Mary appeared to three children and entrusted them with three secrets, including the prediction of the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II.

Furthermore, many pilgrims hope to be healed from difficult illnesses through prayers or by lighting candles in this holy place. So, a place for placing candles has been set up on one side. However, since people are constantly lighting candles there at a rate of several per second, it happens every few minutes that long candles are melted by neighboring candles and topple over. This in turn leads to a huge fire and the subsequent pilgrims can only throw their candles into the fire instead of lighting them.

There are candles of all lengths, thicknesses, and shapes available for purchase on-site. On the pilgrimage site, standard candles up to a length of about 40 cm and a thickness of 5 cm can be obtained for a donation. However, away from the site, you can also buy candles in the most bizarre shapes. 1.5m or 1.8m tall candles are still the most normal ones. Candles in the shape of a foot, hand, knee, liver, or chest are quite extraordinary. They probably represent the body part in which the pilgrim is currently experiencing pain. There are also candles in the shape of infants, in case the desire for children is still unfulfilled.

In addition to spending money in the countless small souvenir shops on statues of saints, pendants, necklaces, or candles, you can also attend Mass in the six different church locations at the pilgrimage site almost 6 times a day.

The final stop on our Sunday pilgrimage was the castle monastery of the Knights Templar in Tomar. This former monastery was used as the headquarters of the Templars in Portugal in the 12th century. The original monastery was constantly expanded, resulting in a complex of buildings in a castle. The main church of this complex is particularly beautifully decorated.

Day 142 - Total tour 9,376 km

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