Shrine of Fátima

The project involved the complete renovation of the sound system at outdoor prayer area of Shrine of Fátima. the biggest and portugal wityh cappacity for more than 300.000 pilgrims with an area bigger than 63.000 Sqm. the main goals were to improve sound quality, intelligibility for celebrations, spoken word and choirs. Additionally, the system is now fully redundant. Reliability, redundancy and safety were therefore key objectives from the beginning. The improvement was remarkable. The feedback from pilgrims, celebrants is very good, everyone is satisfied with the results achieved, the Sound quality, coverage consistency and intelligibility is significantly better.

The selection was driven primarily by technological requirements rather than brand preference. The project was performance/ specifications oriented, then the suppliers made their “homework” and best offers were taken by the Shrine of Fátima.
The entire infrastructure is based on Dante protocol, so the new system was designed to operate fully over a redundant Dante network (primary and secondary networks), with an additional analogue/AES backup layer for extra redundancy.
The system features distributed digital signal processing with remote access and multi-operator capability.
For loudspeakers, steerable technology was a must and Renkus-Heinz was selected as a natural choice. DSP processing and the core network infrastructure are mainly based on BSS solutions. Additional breakout boxes and converters were supplied by Tascam. Existing passive loudspeakers were retained where appropriate, and amplification for passive systems was provided by LEA Professional amplifiers.

this was a complex project. Although installation took place during winter, when the outdoor prayer area is less used, the Shrine of Fátima remains active year-round. Work therefore had to be carried out without disrupting regular operations.
Another major challenge involved coverage limitations in certain areas. Achieving the required intelligibility levels required close collaboration with civil engineers, architects, electrical engineers and the Shrine’s of Fátima maintenance and operation AV team. One particularly complex task was installing additional coverage reinforcement in the centre of the prayer area, which required coordination across multiple disciplines.
Redundancy was another key requirement. The Sanctuary Board requested a fully redundant system, meaning duplication and distribution of equipment racks, audio distribution, networking and power supply. The final system is now fully redundant at all critical levels.