The sanctuary is perched at 800m altitude in a mountainous site where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to a shepherd in 1468. Like the façade towers, the large campanile standing above the buildings is covered in diamond point stone, a symbol of the hawthorn (arantzazu in Basque). The current building dates back to the mid-20C: inside, there is a statue of the Virgin Mary in the centre of a gigantic retable painted on wood by Lucio Muñoz and fine stained-glass windows by Xabier Alvarez de Eulate.