An alignment apparatus 10 comprises a table 11 which is provided rotatably in a plane, and equipped with a loading plane 12A capable of sucking a wafer W, a shift mechanism 30 that moves the table 11 in the X- and Y-axis directions, and a sensor 50 that detects the position of the peripheral edge of the wafer W. The loading plane 12A is provided so as to come to a position inside the periphery of the wafer W. On the other hand, outside the table 11, a receiving member 15, which is positioned on the generally same plane as the loading plane 12A, is provided, and the receiving member 15 is provided with a plane configuration larger than the wafer W.