LORETO

The journey continues with a visit to the famous Marian Sanctuary of Loreto, the guardian of the Holy House of Nazareth and a collection of artistic treasures that has grown around it since 1294, the year of the miraculous arrival of the House. This collection includes works by artists such as Melozzo da Forlì, Luca Signorelli, Andrea Sansovino, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Benedetto da Maiano, Lorenzo Lotto, Il Pomarancio, Innocenzo da Petralia, while in the Renaissance era, the Gothic Basilica was further embellished by Giuliano da Sangallo, Francesco di Giorgio Martini, and even Bramante.

In terms of the Franciscan presence in this city, it should be noted that there was both a “hospitium” (a place of hospitality) since 1824 and a service to the Sanctuary of the Holy House as Penitentiaries by the Conventual Friars from 1773 until 1934, and now by the Capuchin Friars since 1934. The Friars Minor had their “hospitium” of San Benigno, established in 1620, at the current site of the Hospital, and a more recent one acquired in 1909, also named San Benigno, adjacent to the Parish of the Sacred Heart, assumed in 1930, both in the vicinity of the Hospital.