The so-called loretas, fairly exact copies of a building called Holy House (Santa casa) in the Italian town of Loreto, were typical of the European Baroque of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Loreta According to legend this house was the original house of the Virgin Mary of Nazareth, in which Archangel Gabriel's annunciation of the birth of Christ took place. When destruction from pagans threatened the house in the 13th century, an­gels carried it to a new, safe place in Lore­to. About fifty such Holy Houses were built in Bohemia, although the one in Prague is undoubtedly the most famous and most fre­quently visited. It also gave its name to the present-day place of pilgrimage, Loreta, which was built, in several stages, until the mid-18th century.

Loreta The actual Loretan chapel, today standing in the middle of a courtyard was built in 1626-1627 bythe Italian archi­tect Giovanni Battista Orsi, having been commissioned by the aristocratic Lobkowitz family. In the following years it was sur­rounded by cloisters with seven chapels, serving as a shelter for the pious pilgrims an outstanding work in high Baroque style with an exceptionally structured and decorative facade (photo above). On the eastern side of the cloister is the Baroque Nativity Church (1734-1735), perhaps also the work of Dienzenhofer, decorated by first-c1ass Baroque artists, including the painters Wenceslas Vavřinec Reiner, Antonín Kern, Jan Jiří Heinsch, woodcarver Matyáš Schonherr and sculptor Richard Jiří Prachner. Today, Loreta is managed by the Capuchins from the neighbouring monastery. Its grounds are open to the public - we can see the actual Holy House, walk through the c1oisters, and visit the pilgrimage church and the treasures of the Loretan treasury. If we time the visit right, the lovely sound of Loretan bells will ring above our heads ...