The 16th century Portuguese Colonial style church was an important center in the Portuguese slave trade in Angola. Muxima was an important empire of slave traffic, protected by the Fortress, and the church played an important role in the materialization of the traffic, because it was in this religious local, where the slaves were baptized before being deported. It is a popular pilgrimage destination in Angola, that can receive more than 1 million pilgrims annually. It became a popular pilgrimage site after a suspected Marian apparition in 1833.