Taddeo, a man-at-arms who governs Este at the beginning of the 1400s, bequeaths the construction of a sanctuary, to be assigned to the Dominicans, to house a Byzantine icon considered miraculous. The Renaissance church, later replaced by a larger one in the 1700s, becomes a renowned place of worship, until it is named a Basilica in 1924, characterizing the landscape and memory of Este to this day.
The bulk of the Basilica distinctly shapes the landscape of Este similarly to the Cathedral, also a twin in its bare and unfinished façade and the predominance of unplastered brickwork on the outside.
The prominent position of the church relative to Via Principe Umberto, which runs longitudinally through the historic city, is evident. The mass of the complex, the emergence of the bell tower, and the proximity to the small rise of the bridge over the Bisatto, which takes its name “alle Grazie” from the Basilica itself, form a kind of representative gateway to enter the center.
The recognizable sign of the apse of the "new" 18th-century church emerges, large in size, similar to the remodeling of the Cathedral, almost contemporaneous.
The bell tower, which constitutes an important distinctive feature in the city's skyline, had its summit different from the current one, rebuilt in the 1800s.
The location, just inside the historic city, bordered by the Bisatto, was designated by the legacy of Taddeo d'Este and imposed a papal exemption, as at the time churches of mendicant orders could not be within the walls.
The 15th-century church was oriented, as a rule, with the apse facing east. The 18th-century remodeling was oriented to the south to align the façade with the street. Along the street, the convent building has merged with the façade of the Sanctuary and has effectively obscured the bell tower, redone in the same position as that of the older church.
The complex of superimposed cylindrical and polygonal volumes of the apse characterizes the 18th-century architecture, in an interesting solution between mannerism and baroque that is not perceived from the front.
Only from above is the convent complex that accompanied the Renaissance church, then oriented east and parallel to the street, clearly legible. After the construction of the new church facing the street, the convent building has merged with the façade of the Sanctuary and has effectively hidden the bell tower, a remnant of the older church.
The interior of the Basilica is unified despite the heavy late Baroque decoration and the rich 19th-century statuary. At the side altars, some valuable canvases, including those by A. Zanchi dedicated to St. Anthony, St. Dominic, and St. Thomas.
In the chapel of the Pietà, a significant fragment of late 15th-century fresco recovered from the ancient church during the construction of the new one.
In the apse, the Byzantine icon emerges dramatically, placed at the back of the long presbytery but highlighted by rich Baroque embellishments.
The Byzantine icon, for which Taddeo d'Este commissioned the first 15th-century sanctuary, is placed at the back of the choir and is visible from the entire church. Of Cretan origin, from the 15th century, it represents the Madonna with child in the canonical posture for which it is defined Odighitria (she who shows the way). The painting has been venerated as miraculous for centuries, as evidenced by the hundreds of ex-votos kept in the church's premises.
