The Cathedral Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady Aparecida () is a prominent Roman Catholic basilica in Aparecida, Brazil. It is dedicated to Our Lady Aparecida as the principal Patroness of Brazil. Nossa Senhora Aparecida roughly translates to Our Lady Revealed. It is the largest cathedral and the second largest Catholic church in the world in interior area after the St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City.
History
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 Paulo Governor, 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, the construction work began on the present building, in a site nearby. The basilica, including external area, has room for more than 200,000 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. Pope Paul VI granted its first Golden rose on 12 August 1967 Pope John Paul II elevated and consecrated formally as a Basilica on 4 July 1980.
New Basilica
Benedito Calixto Neto was the architect contracted for the design of the project and, in 1955, the construction of the new basilica started. 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 can accommodate 100,000 people, which can expand to in 100,000 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 Aparecida while the building was still under construction. The feast day for Our Lady 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, celebrating mass there.
Main pilgrimage center for the Catholic Church in Brazil, the National Shrine of Aparecida was recognized by the Vatican as the Archdiocesan Cathedral of Aparecida on 12 November 2016, being since then an official Bishop church.
Construction site
Also known as "Basílica Nova", it is built on the "Pitas" hill, had its earthwork started in 1952, and finished in 1954. It started to be built on 11 November 1955, by the North side, and went on to build the Brasília Tower, which had its metallic structure donated by the then president Juscelino Kubitschek.
After the tower was finished, the works went to the central dome, then, in mid-1972, to the "Capela das Velas" and to the South side, then passing to the West and East, and the intermediate wings.