Pilgrimage to Loreto

The Pontifical Sanctuary of the Holy House of Loreto is located in the Marche region, not far from the sea.

The Holy House is kept inside the Basilica built between 1469 and 1587 and is the heart of the Sanctuary. It consists of three walls which, according to ancient and authoritative tradition, are the part in front of the Nazareth cave where the Blessed Virgin Mary was born, lived and received the Annunciation.

According to a devout tradition, the angels were responsible for the translation of the Holy House from Nazareth to Loreto. A second historical interpretation emphasises that in 1291 the Crusaders were expelled from the Holy Land by the Muslims and that some Christians saved the House of Our Lady from destruction by first transporting it to ancient Illyria, to a place of which the Trsat Shrine is a reminder. Then, on the night between 9 and 10 December 1294, it was transported to the ancient town of Recanati, first to the port, then to a hill in a public street, where it is still kept today. According to both authoritative tradition and archaeological and philological studies, it can certainly be admitted that there was some ‘angelic’ Heaven in this extraordinary transport.

Thus the pilgrimage to Loreto, one of the most spiritual places in the world, was born.