The record
A 2.6 tonne element set into a memorial at Cova da Iria, inaugurated in August 1994 and blessed by John Paul II. Here the fall of communism is read as the fulfilment of the 1917 Fátima prophecy.
The block reached the sanctuary on 5 March 1991, and John Paul II blessed it within weeks, on his visit that May. The memorial built round it by the architect J. Carlos Loureiro, on the south side of the rectory, was inaugurated on 13 August 1994, the anniversary of the night the Wall went up, and its inscription quotes the words the pope spoke at Fátima in 1991, thanking the heavenly shepherdess, as he called the Virgin, for guiding the peoples to freedom. The theological reading is explicit at the site: the fall of communism is presented as the fulfilment of the 1917 Fátima prophecy about Russia. The atlas does not have to endorse that reading, but it is the reason the segment is there, and so it belongs in the record.
How did it get here?
Bought by subscription among a group of Portuguese emigrants led by Virgílio Casimiro Ferreira, who lived in Germany and requested the segment with support from the Portuguese consulate general in Frankfurt am Main; it reached the sanctuary on 5 March 1991.
Sources
Listed by the Federal Foundation as #147 and by the Berlin Wall Archive as #122.
Fátima, P — The Wall Net ↗
Site profile: a 2.6 tonne element at Cova da Iria, the donor, and the consular route.
General referenceSource accessed 2026-09-17
List of Berlin Wall segments — Wikipedia ↗
Architect J. Carlos Loureiro and the inauguration date of 13 August 1994.
General referenceSource accessed 2026-09-17
Santuário de Fátima | Lugares de culto e oração ↗
The sanctuary's own account: the Berlin Wall monument was inaugurated on 13 August 1994; the block weighs 2.6 tonnes and measures 3.6 by 1.2 metres, was given by a Portuguese man living in Germany, and was set in a monument designed by the architect José Carlos Loureiro.
Institutional sourceSource accessed 2026-09-17
Fátima e a Queda do Muro de Berlim ↗
Agência Ecclesia, 2009: the 2,600 kg block was bought by subscription among a group of Portuguese led by Virgílio Casimiro, an emigrant living in Germany; it reached the sanctuary with the support of the Portuguese consulate general in Frankfurt on 5 March 1991, and the monument was inaugurated on 13 August 1994, with an inscription quoting John Paul II's words at Fátima in May 1991.
Press reportSource accessed 2026-09-17
Federal Foundation — Berlin Wall worldwide ↗
The source lists this place as a Berlin Wall location. Coordinates, where supplied, are source-reported and may represent a general area. This is not independent verification of authenticity, current presence, or public access.
Inventory listingSource accessed 2026-09-17 · Source record 147
Berlin Wall Archive ↗
The source lists this place as a Berlin Wall location. Coordinates, where supplied, are source-reported and may represent a general area. This is not independent verification of authenticity, current presence, or public access.
Inventory listingSource accessed 2026-09-17 · Source record 122
Source-reported segments: 1. This is not a separately verified count.
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