The site has its origins in the finding of a statue of the Virgin Mary. According to local tradition, three fishermen were attempting to catch a large amount of fish in the Paraíba River for a banquet honoring the visit of São PauloGovernor, Pedro de Almeida in 1717. Despite their prayers, their attempts were fruitless until late in the day, one of the fishermen cast his net and pulled it back to find the statue of the Virgin Mary. Upon his next cast, he found the head. The group cleaned the statue, wrapped it in cloth, and returned to their task to find their fortunes had changed and they were able to obtain all the fish they needed. The statue is believed to be the work of Frei Agostino de Jesus, a monk residing in São Paulo. The statue was originally housed at the home of Felipe Pedroso, one of the fisherman who found it. This became a popular site for visitors wishing to pray to the statue, leading Pedroso's family to build a small chapel to house the statue. This was replaced in 1734 by a larger chapel, and then in 1834 by the first basilica on the site. In 1955, with pilgrimage numbers still growing, work began on the present building. It has room for 30,000 people and is second in capacity after St Peter's Basilica. The old wooden chapel was originally built in 1745. The old shrine is a modest church in the colonial style built between 1834 and 1888. Since that time, pious worshippers have termed it as a basilica. Due to the following conflicting accounts on dates, the Vatican has enumerated the following recorded Papal documents:
Pope Leo XIII mentioned the Brazilian devotion to this image called "Nossa Senhora da Conceição Aparecida" prior to his death in 1903
Pope Pius X granted a canonical coronation to this same image on 8 December 1904.
Pope Pius XI declared that same Marian title as the Patroness of Brazil through a papal bull signed on 16 July 1930, also witnessed and signed by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli.
In 1955, Benedito Calixto began the construction on the new basilica. The structure is in the Romanesque Revival style and takes the form of a Greek Cross with arms in length and in width. The dome is high and the tower reaches a height of. The basilica contains of space. The main church hall can accommodate 30,000 people, which can expand to 300,000 during external celebrations. The grounds contain a shopping mall, medical clinic, restaurants and a parking lot that can hold 4,000 buses and 6,000 cars. On 4 July 1980, Pope John Paul II consecrated the sanctuary under the name Our Lady of Aparecida while the building was still under construction. The feast day for Our Lady of Aparecida is 12 October. Pope Benedict XVI visited the Basilica of the Shrine of Aparecida on 12 May 2007, during his Apostolic Journey to Brazil on the occasion of the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean. During his visit, the Pope awarded the Shrine a Golden Rose. On the occasion of World Youth Day, Pope Francis visited the basilica on 24 July 2013, venerating the image of Our Lady of Aparecida and celebrating mass there.
