In 1916, on three separate occasions, Lúcia Santos and her two cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, began reporting apparitions of an angel in the region of Valinhos.

[1] These visitations culminated on the 13 October 1917 public Miracle of the Sun event, as the apparition of Virgin Mary allegedly divulged three secrets to the children.

Victims of the 1918 flu pandemic epidemic, both cousins (Francisco and Jacinta Marto) died on 4 April 1919 and 20 February 1920 (in Aljustrel and Lisbon), respectively.

On 13 May 1920, pilgrims defied government troops to install a statue of the Virgin Mary in the chapel, while the first officially celebrated mass occurred on 13 October 1921.

It would take the next four years to see a change in attitude from the Roman Catholic church; on 26 July 1927, the Bishop of Leiria presided over the first religious service at Cova da Iria, that included the blessing of the 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) stations of the cross on the mountain road to the site from Reguengo do Fetal.

On 13 May 1956, cardinal Angelo Roncalli, patriarch of Venice and future Pope John XXIII, presided over an international pilgrimage anniversary.

Between 12–13 May 1982, in a pilgrimage to Fátima by Pope John Paul II, the first cornerstone of the Capela do Sagrado Lausperene was laid: the construction would continue until 1987.

[1] Its completion and consecration on 1 January 1987 was attributed to donations and gifts from the Austrian association Cruzada de Reparação pelo Rosário para a Paz no Mundo (Rosary Repair Crusade for World Peace).

Following several years of building, on 24 August 2006 the first attempts to classify the sanctuary as a national patrimony were begun, in terms of the transitory regime, but was incomplete due to a sunset clause of 8 September 2001.

Every year pilgrims fill the country roads that leads to the shrine with crowds that approach one million on May 13 and October 13, the most significant dates of the Fátima apparitions.

The basilica consists of a tall centralized bell-tower and nave, approximately 65 metres (213 ft) in height, and decorated by a crown of bronze of 7,000 kilograms (15,000 lb), similar in style to the Clérigos Church, surmounted by an illuminated cross.

A large statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which stands in a niche above the main entrance of the basilica, was sculpted by American priest Thomas McGlynn.

[1] Father McGlynn spent considerable time with Sister Lúcia as she described to him in detail how Mary looked during her appearances to the children.

It has 152 registers and approximately 12,000 lead, tin and wood tubes, with the largest 11 metres (36 ft) in height and the smallest 9 millimetres (0.35 in).