Although the first records of the church date back to 1488, it is possible that the sanctuary was mentioned even earlier, around 1350, in the Urbarium under the name ‘Our Lady below the Karst’. According to a visitation report from 1570, the church had three altars and a Confraternity of Our Lady used to gather here, which proves of the importance of the shrine. Hermits lived here for a short period in the eighteenth century. When Peter Marušič was the parish priest at Miren, the Stations of the Cross, the Holy Stairs and the Calvary were built, and the number of pilgrims started to grow. In 1765 a permanent curacy came to life, which unfortunately ceased operating after Emperor Joseph II’s reforms. In 1866 the Miren parish priest Janez Elersič used pilgrims' donations to build a larger church of the current size, and it was dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows. The Lazarists took over its administration in 1913. During World War I the church was completely destroyed. The parish priest Oskar Pahor had a new church built following a plan by the architect Umberto Cuzzi. However, World War II also saw this church severely damaged. The Lazarists began restoring the church in 1955, and it was consecrated on 13 July 1986.

The present-day church is one of the largest in the Diocese of Koper. It was built in the Neo-Romanesque style on a basilica plan. The main altar was designed by the architect Ivan Vurnik and was completed in 1963 by Tone Kralj. The statue of Our Lady of Sorrows above the main altar and the paintings are also Kralj’s work. The lunettes of the side naves depict the Stations of the Cross and the clerestory walls the Mysteries of the Rosary. These drawings were restored in a fresco technique in 1986 by Lojze Čemažar. The confessional under the choir was designed by the architect Boris Podrecca in 2005.

The facade of the church bears an image of Our Lady of Sorrows designed by Tone Kralj and created with glass parts by Oskar Kogoj. The church tower on the left side has four bells, which were consecrated on 12 October 1987.