The church that opens onto Piazza Pugliano, now restored to its former glory, has been a papal basilica since 1574. An ancient tradition, not supported by historical data, recalls the passage of San Pietro per Resina. Certain sources document the existence and fame of the sanctuary at least since the 11th century. In its present form, the basilica dates back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and only the beautiful bell tower remains of the original facade.
A plaque in Latin recalls the great indulgences granted by Pope Gregory XIII in 1579 and another, the visit that Pius IX made to the sanctuary in 1849. Of great historical value is a Madonna with child, carved in Vesuvian stone: it dates back to the 1500s, and could be one of the oldest images of the virgin venerated in Pugliano.
Inside, two fourteenth-century wooden sculptures, the venerated statue of the Madonna delle Grazie placed on the high altar and, in a chapel, the Black Crucifix. The baptismal basin is an ancient "labrum" (small basin) adapted to a baptistery in 1425, as the inscription on the rim of the basin attests. Two other statues of the sixteenth century represent S. Pietro and S. Aspreno.
The so-called Madonna of "Ampellone" or "Ancient Madonna" was worshiped until the fourteenth century, as it was believed that it was a Byzantine table of the ninth century. In reality it is an 18th century canvas glued on wood. In the chapel of S. Antonio, on the right wall, there are two pagan sarcophagi of the 2nd and 4th century AD respectively, which were adapted to altars until the 16th century.
Of exquisite wooden workmanship are the pulpit (1685) and the sacristy which contains solid walnut cabinets.