The church has a beautiful history. It was erected in 1395 by the foundation of Saint Jadwiga of Anjou and Ladislaus the Short, but legend has it that its construction was started in the 11th century by Ladislaus I Herman as a votive offering for a miraculous healing. In 1397, the temple was taken over by the Calced Carmelites. The Gothic church was damaged during a city siege in the 16th century. Although it was later rebuilt, it was not spared from further destruction during the Swedish invasion. It was renovated in the 17th century and survives to this day. Adjoining the church to the north is a Baroque monastery from the 17th century, with two storeys added in the 20th century.  In the cloisters you can see frescoes from the 18th century depicting the history of the church and the miraculous image. The basilica's façade is modelled on that of Rome's Il Gesù church. Attention is drawn to stalls from the 17th–18th century and to the 18th-century Baroque high altar with decorative woodcarvings.

Adjacent to the church, the chapel of Our Lady of the Sand, designed by Giovanni Trevano, has a lantern dome containing a 17th-century statue of the Madonna. Bartholomew Berrecci created this type of central dome chapel at the beginning of the 16th century in the two chapels of Wawel (Zygmuntowska, Bishop Tomicki), and it is one of the basic types of sacred architecture in Poland. Against the background of Polish domed chapels, the Sand Chapel is unique as it surpasses all of them in size and stands out for the originality of its architectural concept. Its designer, Giovanni Trevano, is also a remarkable figure – one of the most eminent architects of his time. He had outstanding projects, including the Chapel of St Stanislaus at Kraków Cathedral, the Chapel of St Casimir at Vilnius Cathedral, the castle at Ujazdów, and the palace of the Kraków bishops in Kielce.

The image of Our Lady of the Sands, known as the Lady of Kraków, was painted in the 15th century by an unknown monk who, according to legend, interrupted the work he had begun by going to pray and, on his return, saw that the painting had been miraculously completed. The painting survived intact during the siege of the city in 1587 and escaped destruction during the church fire in 1655. John III Sobieski prayed in front of it in 1683 before his expedition to Vienna, and on the bicentenary of the victory at Vienna, crowns designed by Jan Matejko were placed on it. Conservation research shows that the Virgin and Child adored by angels, visible today, was once part of a more elaborate composition.

Next to the church is a Golgotha with 18th-century sculptures. On the other hand, on the temple wall from Garbarska Street, there is a stone blow with an imprint of the so-called Queen Jadwiga's foot. Legend has it that the queen, who often visited the temples during construction, moved by the misery of one of the builders, placed her foot on a stone and unfastened a gold buckle from her shoe. The workers were surprised to see her footprint imprinted in the stone.

The main feast in honour of Mary here is on 16 July, the feast of Our Lady of the Scapular.