Known in Brazil as Our Lady of Aparecida, this is the most important Marian shrine in the country and home to one of the largest Basilicas in the world.

On the Feast Day of October 12 it has been estimated that up to one million pilgrims come on just that one day, to honour the Blessed Virgin.

She was proclaimed patron saint of Brazil in 1930 and is now housed in a Minor Basilica that is the second largest Church in the world, second only to Saint Peter’s and can reportedly hold up to 45,000 people.

In 1980, Pope John Paul II visited the shrine and blessed it during his visit.

In 2007, when Pope Benedict XVI visited, he gave the Basilica the Golden Rose.

Another special visitor to Aparecida was Pope Francis in 2014, during his visit for World Youth Day in Brazil.