According the legend, the image of Our Lady of Remédios was found during the same time that an image of Our Lady of Nazaré was discovered, around 1179. This is the place where it was hidden, in a cave, by catholichs worried about its profanation by the saracens. An escaped convict shought refuge at the, in that time, island of Peniche, in a cave by the sea. There he found the small image of the Virgin Mary with Christ-Child. After the story was known, the people started to go to the cave to worship the Lady. There,  an altar was built, transforming the small cave in a small Hermitage. Before the 17th century, the current shrine was built, thanks to the emerging devotion to the place.