Basilica of the Holy House in Loreto

Basilica of the Holy House in Loreto

The Basilica of the Holy House in Loreto ( Santuario Basilica Pontificia della Santa Casa di Loreto ) is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage church in Loreto in the Italian Marche near Ancona on the Adriatic Sea . It is a papal basilica , an international sanctuary and the cathedral of the Loreto Territorial Prelature .

The holy house

The holy house in the basilica

Legend has it that after the Crusaders lost the Holy Land , angels transferred the house of the Holy Family from Nazareth via Illyria to Loreto. Soon the Holy House of Loreto became the popular Sanctuary of Loreto pilgrimage .

According to legend, the Holy House of Loreto is the house where Mary, mother of Jesus , grew up and where the Annunciation of the Lord took place. It is located in the basilica with a renaissance paneling rich in figures and makes it the second most important pilgrimage site in Italy as the destination of the Loreto pilgrimage . The house is 9.25 meters long, 4.1 meters wide and 5 meters high. The ceiling of the interior consists of a barrel vault . A single small window, the "angel window", provides some light. According to tradition, the Archangel Gabriel entered the house through this window .

The fourth side of the Holy House, which has only three walls, is supposed to fit exactly at the entrance of the grotto under the Annunciation Basilica in Nazareth. In 1263 Nazareth was conquered by the Mameluks and the Basilica of the Annunciation was destroyed on the orders of Sultan Baibars . However, their remains remained a destination for pilgrims. It was not until 1291, when the last significant bastion of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was lost through the fall of Acre and the crusaders were driven from the remaining settlements and castles along the coast of the Holy Land, did the pilgrimage visits to Nazareth end. At that time, numerous relics , including earth from Mount Golgotha (for the Camposanto Monumentale in Pisa) were shipped to Europe. In a dowry register of the marriage contract of the Princess of Epirus Thamar Angelina Komnene with the French king's son Philip I of Taranto from 1294 the "holy stones that have been taken from the house of Our Lady, the Mother of God and Virgin" are listed. They would thus be in 1291 in the Illyrian Epirus , according to the legend, Trsat in today's Croatia , and after marriage in 1294 on the opposite Adriatic coast in the Papal States come and been rebuilt, Loreto. Examination of the stones showed graffiti with Christian monograms developed from Hebrew letters, as they are also known from Jerusalem. As votive offerings, coins from the Duchy of Athens , five red fabric crosses, such as those sewn by the Crusaders on their coats, and shells of ostrich eggs (symbol of virginity) have been found between the mortar . The family name "Angelos" of the despot dynasty of Epirus means "angel" in both Greek and Latin.

The Holy House was raised considerably by the addition of brick layers, on which sparse remains of frescoes can still be seen. Around the actual Marienhaus, Pope Julius II had a marble cladding built according to plans by Donato Bramante in 1507, which shows the glory of Mary and is one of the outstanding works of art of the Italian Renaissance.

The name of the Lauretanian Litany (Litany of Loreto) is also derived from the name of the place. In the German-speaking area there are numerous Loreto chapels that are modeled on the Holy House of Loreto.

basilica

The Holy House in Loreto was initially built over with a small church. In 1468, with the participation of the most important Italian architects and artists, the construction of today's cruciform domed basilica began in post-Gothic and Renaissance forms. Pope Paul II , who is said to have been miraculously cured himself as a cardinal in Loreto in 1464, personally sponsored the building. The church was completed with the representative facade in 1587. The 75 m high campanile was added in 1750–54. The western forecourt with a baroque fountain is framed by two wings of the building with double arcades .

organ

The organ was installed in 1995 by the Mascioni organ builder . The instrument has 56 stops on three manuals and a pedal. The game actions are mechanical, the stop actions are electric.

I positivo corale Cc Bordone 16 ′ Principals 8th' Flauto a camino 8th' Ottava 4 ′ Flauto in VIII 4 ′ Sesquialtera II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Quintadecima 2 ′ Decimanona 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Vigesimaseconda 1' Ripieno IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Cromorno 8th' Voce Umana 8th' tremolo

II Grand'Organo Cc Principals 16 ′ Principals I 8th' Principals II 8th' Quinta 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Ottava 4 ′ Terza 3 1 ⁄ 5  ′ Duodecima 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Quintadecima 2 ′ Ripieno II-IV Ripieno VI Flauto 8th' Flauto a camino 4 ′ Cornetto V 8th' Tromba 16 ′ Tromba 8th' Chiarina 4 ′

III Espressivo Cc Principals 8th' Bordone 8th' Gamba 8th' Voce flebile II 8th' Ottava 4 ′ Flauto armonico 4 ′ Flauto in XII 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Flauto in XV 2 ′ Mistura III-V 2 ′ Flauto in XVII 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Flauto in XIX 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Controfagotto 16 ′ Tromba armonica 8th' oboe 8th' Voci corali 8th' tremolo

Pedals Cc Contrabbasso 16 ′ Subbasso 16 ′ Gran Quinta 10 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Principals 8th' Flauto conico 8th' Sesquialtera II 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Ottava 4 ′ Flauto 2 ′ Ripieno IV 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Controbombarda 32 ′ Trombones 16 ′ Tromba 8th' Tromba 4 ′

Web links

Commons : Basilica of the Holy House in Loreto  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Network presence of the Basilica (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Chartularium of 1294 on the occasion of the marriage of Philip I of Taranto to Thamar Angelina Komnene , in the Vatican Library
2. ↑ See e.g. B. The Basilica of Loreto
3. ↑ https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/Literatur/Geburtshaus_Maria_Loreto.html
4. ↑ Information about the organ (Italian)

Coordinates: 43 ° 26 '27  .3 " N , 13 ° 36' 39.3"  E