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joseantonio | all galleries >> Galleries >> PRAGUE > The Loretto (Loreta)
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05-MAR-2017

The Loretto (Loreta)



This Marian pilgrimage site with the Baroque Church of the Nativity and a replica of the Holy House is surrounded by cloisters and chapels. In the tower there is a 27-bell carillon that plays the Loretan Marian song "A Thousand Times We Greet Thee" (every hour from 9 am to 6 pm). The name Loretto has origins in the Italian pilgrim place where the Santa Casa – Holy House is located, originally a cottage inhabited by Virgin Mary in Nazareth in Palestine, where supposedly Archangel Gabriel announced to her that she would become mother of God. From here, she and St. Joseph went to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, and later she came back again. The Holy House has, shortly after Virgin Mary's death, become a worshipped relic, which was however badly damaged after the invasion of the Saracens (Arabian Muslims) into Palestine. Legend says that when the crusading army left Palestine in 1291, a miracle happened. Angels took the Holy Cabin first to Dalmatia and from here into the town in Northern Italy, into a laurel grove, after which the town is called Loreto, which is Laurentum in Latin (laurus – laurel). Archaeological research later confirmed that a part of the brickwork really is identical with Mary's cabin, but it was probably the pope who had it brought from Nazareth in the 13th century. Based on the Italian model from architect Donato Bramante, Loreto was also built in other Catholic countries; in our country it was namely after the defeat at Bílá Hora in 1620. The Holy Cabin in Mikulov, built by Cardinal Diettrichstein, became a model for Prague's Loreto, as Countess Kateřina Benigna of Lobkowicz admired it during her visit.

Canon EOS 70D
1/100s f/6.3 at 40.0mm iso12800 full exif

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Nora van Beek17-Apr-2017 13:05
Such intricate details in this work of art! Beautiful capture! V
Yvonne17-Apr-2017 11:35
Amazing detail in this close-up Jose! v
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