Loreta in Prague is a Baroque pilgrimage site on Loretánské náměstí, along the road leading to Prague Castle. According to its website, it comprises a front building with a clock tower, a courtyard with the Loreta Chapel, an ambit with corner chapels, the Church of the Nativity of Our Lord, and a treasury housing the Loreta Treasure.[1][2]
The Loreta Chapel
The centre of the pilgrimage site is the Loreta Chapel, also known as the Santa Casa, the Loreta House, or the Holy Cottage. It is a copy of the house of the Virgin Mary in Nazareth, venerated in Loreto, Italy, as the site of the Incarnation. The chapel stands freely in a courtyard surrounded by a two-storey ambit.[1][2] According to the Loreta, it is a genuine Loreto shrine in the full sense of the word. Following the Baroque interpretation, the exterior of the building is meant to convey its sacred essence.[1]
The history of the pilgrimage site began on 3 June 1626 with the laying of the foundation stone. Its first patroness and founder was Benigna Kateřina of Lobkowicz, who chose the Vienna-based Italian architect G. B. Orsi to design the chapel. The building was consecrated on 25 March 1631 by the Archbishop of Prague, Cardinal Arnošt Vojtěch Count of Harrach.[1]
At first, only paintings adorned the outer walls of the house. It was not until the 1660s and 1670s that Countess Alžběta Apolonie Kolowratová had a stucco relief cladding built, in which the Italian G. B. Cometa (1620–1687) played a major role. The decoration follows the Italian model and depicts scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary, with emphasis on the childhood of Christ, from the Birth of the Virgin Mary through the Annunciation and the Nativity of Our Lord to the Death of the Virgin Mary and the translation of the Holy Cottage from Nazareth to Europe. The relief panels are separated by niches containing statues of Old Testament prophets on the lower level and pagan sibyls on the upper level.[1]
The interior is divided into two parts by a silver, partly wooden, lattice partition with an altar. The smaller part contains the venerated statue of the Virgin Mary of Loreto, carved from lime wood, which copies the now-lost cedar original, including its darkened skin tones. It rests in an embossed silver frame from 1671 bearing the coat of arms of the donor, Alžběta Apolena Kolowratová. Most of the objects in the Holy Cottage — reliquaries, obelisks, candlesticks, lamps and liturgical vessels — date from the 17th century. The artificial fresco fragments on the brick masonry were restored in 1795 by F. Kunz, according to his signature.[1]
The Church of the Nativity of Our Lord and the Carillon
Along the axis of the courtyard behind the Loreta Chapel stands the pilgrimage Church of the Nativity of Our Lord, whose interior is described on the Loreta's website as one of the most beautiful surviving Rococo interiors in Prague. According to the site, regular Baroque organ concerts are held there on Saturday afternoons.[2] Every hour, the Loreta carillon sounds from the tower of the front building, and the building resounds with a Marian hymn. On feast days, the local organists play entire pieces of sacred music on the carillon's keyboard.[2]
The Loreta Treasure
A substantial part of the Loreta Treasure is on display in the treasury, which, according to the Loreta's website, is the most valuable church treasure in the country after the treasure of St. Vitus Cathedral. Its most important piece is the Diamond Monstrance, known as the Prague Sun. It was made in Vienna at the end of the 17th century and is set with 6,222 diamonds.[2]
Administration
Since the site's founding, the Loreta and its pilgrims have been cared for by friars of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, the Capuchin Province of the Czech Republic. Their monastery, with the Church of Our Lady of the Angels, stands nearby.[2]