Aparecida

Aparecida is a city in southeast Brazil. It's known for the huge neo-Romanesque Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida. The church holds a statue of Brazil's patron saint, originally housed in the 18th-century Basílica Velha (Old Basilica). Pilgrims walk the Passarela da Fé pathway connecting the sites. Porto Itaguaçu marks the spot near the Paraíba do Sul River where the statue was reputedly found.