Loreto

Municipality of Loreto

Via Asdrubali, 21-071 750561

www.public-o.it/loreto

Despite the limitation of the municipal area (just 17 square kilometers.) The town of Loreto is known all over the world for its sanctuary built around the Holy House of Nazareth who, according to tradition and as written on the epigraph of 1595 placed on the marble facing, He was transported by angels on the hill where now stands the monumental Sanctuary, on the night between 9 and 10 December 1294.

With the construction of the Shrine of the Holy House, whose construction began in 1468, they focused in Loreto numerous artists of various schools and trends among which we can mention the architects Mario Marino Cedrini, Giuliano da Majano, Bramante, Andrea Sansovino and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. Perhaps few people know that the beautiful dome, turned to Giuliano da Sangallo, it is among the largest in Italy, after St. Peter’s in Rome and Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence.

Among the most important sculptures are reminiscent of the marble facing of the Holy House, within the Church,
which it was designed by Andrea Sansovino and others. Inside the sanctuary is decorated with precious frescoes by Luca Signorelli and Melozzo da Forli, who were the first in a long line of artists who enriched, with their works, and the Sanctuary that the complex monumental structure that was built around , including Lorenzo Lotto, Pellegrino Tibaldi, Federico Zuccari, Christopher Roncallie last Cesare Maccari.

Museum Gallery of the Santa Casa the museum is housed in the Apostolic Palace and contains paintings, sculptures, tapestries, ceramics, furniture, etc. from the Holy House or donated over the centuries. Very interesting frescoes by Lorenzo Lotto, that here he decided to end his earthly existence, and the collection of ceramics from the pharmacy. The Treasury of the Basilica includes precious objects of high metalwork as a silver crucifix sent to the Santa Casa da Christina of Lorraine.

For the testimony of faith long five centuries, certainly the most important work of art of the town is the Sanctuary of the Holy House, built starting in 1468, the interior is a succession of altars, tombstones, frescoes, gilded frames, etc. . The same relic of the Holy House of Nazareth was painted inside with votive offerings from 1294 onwards. The most significant work is undoubtedly the imposing marble covering the relic performed by the best artists of the ‘500 design by Bramante.