The sanctuary to this Virgin manifestation was established in 1594, with the first church built between then and 1666. The church has suffered damage on various occasions from lightning strikes and from earthquakes. Before the Spanish, the pyramid was considered to be sacred to a female rain deity called Chiconahuiquiahuita (Nine Rains). She was accredited with striking the new church with lightning and supposedly a stone image of her was found at the site the church is now. The lightning strikes have caused minor damage, but the earthquakes have been more serious. In 1864, the church was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake. It took ten years to rebuild and was re-inaugurated in 1873. In February 1930, there was a robbery at the church. The thieves stole the jewelry that the image had been wearing, including a gold crown, a silver halo and precious stones. The next major quake to damage the building came in 1999, which damaged the towers and caused the pilgrims' portal to collapse, with damage to 80% of the building. However, the image of the Virgin, in her Fabergé box, was undamaged.