Construction started on 11 November 1955, and finished on 4 July 1980. Area of 18000m² is covered.
The town of Aparecida do Norte, Brazil, houses two Basilicas dedicated to the National Patron Saint, the "Appeared Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary", better known as Our Lady of Aparecida: the "Old Basilica", built between 1760 and 1770 and restored from 1824 to 1834, which was established as a Minor Basilica by Pope Saint Pius X in 1908, and the "New Basilica".
This much larger building became necessary due to the popularity of Our Lady of Aparecida, and in 1955 construction on this new Basilica has begun. Architect Benedito Calixto de Jesus Neto designed a building in the form of a Greek cross. It ia also among the largest and biggest churches in the world, holding up to 45,000 people. The 272,000 square meters of parking lot hold 4,000 buses and 6,000 cars.
The building was consecrated by Pope John Paul II while still under construction, on July 4, 1980. The Pope created the church as a Minor Basilica and named it the National Shrine of Brazil. The New Basilica is one of the largest Catholic places of worship in the world and in 1984 was officially declared by the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) "the largest Marian Temple in the world." Pope Benedict XVI visited the Basilica of the Shrine of Aparecida on May 12, 2007, during his Apostolic Journey to Brazil on the occasion of the 5th General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Of When the Basilica Appeared, for two times, It received Ouro's Rose, one of the most ancient and noble papal decorations. The first one, for Pope Paul VI, in 1967, for opportunity of the jubilee of 250 years of the appearance of the image of Our Lady of Conceição Aparecida, being the delivery done to the 15th of August of that year. The second was given from Pope, on the 18th of March of 2007, Domingo Lætare, and hand to the 12th of May of the same year, for opportunity of his visit to Brazil.
The National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Conceição Aparecida is visited annually by approximately twelve million pilgrims of all the parts of Brazil.
It is known as brazilian Mecca as the whole small city commerce is around this big catholic religious temple.
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