Pope Pius X personally raised the sanctuary to the status of a minor basilica by a Motu proprio on 10 November 1907.

The territory around Mariazell was given to St. Lambert's Abbey around 1103, and the monks built a cell in order to serve the local residents.

To the left and right of the gothic spire, a baroque tower was built, the nave was lengthened and widened, and a dome was added on the eastern side.

This chapel sits on the site of the first "cell" and holds a Late Romanesque miraculous image of the Virgin Mary - the "Magna Mater Austria", a 48 cm tall statuette made of linden.

Larger numbers of pilgrims are documented beginning around 1330, when a secular court imposed a Zellfahrt (Zell journey) as atonement for its criminals.

On a nearby bank, he settled down, placed the figurine on a tree trunk, and built a cell out of wood, which served as both his chapel and his living quarters.

The second legend relates how Henry Margrave of Moravia and his wife, having been healed of severe gout by the help of Our Lady of Mariazell, made a pilgrimage to that place around 1200.

The third legend recounts a victorious battle of the Hungarian King Ludwig I. over a numerically superior Turkish army.