Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Loreta
Loretánské náměstí 7 • Daily: April-Oct 9am-12.15pm & 1-5pm; Nov-March 9.30am-12.15pm & 1-4pm •
110Kč • 220 516 740,
loreta.cz
The facade of the
Loreta
, an elaborate Baroque pilgrimage complex immediately opposite
theČernínskýpaláconLoretánskénáměstí,wasbuiltbytheDientzenhofers,aBavarianfam-
ily of architects, in the early part of the eighteenth century, and is the perfect antidote to
Caratti's humourless Černínský palác nearby. It's all whimsical flourishes and dandy twirls,
topped by a tower that lights up like a Chinese lantern at night, and by day clanks out the
hymn
We Greet Thee a Thousand Times
on its 27 Dutch bells (it also puts on special per-
formances of other tunes from time to time).
Santa Casa
TheLoreta'sfacadeandcloisters,whichwerebuilttoshelterpilgrimsfromtheelements,are,
in fact, just the outer casing for the focus of the complex, the
Santa Casa
. This is the oldest
part of the Loreta, founded by Kateřina Lobkowicz in 1626 and smothered in a rich mantle
of stucco depicting the building's miraculous transportation from the Holy Land. Legend has
it that the Santa Casa (Mary's home in Nazareth), under threat from the heathen Turks, was
transported by a host of angels to a small village in Dalmatia and from there, via a number
of brief stop-offs, to a small laurel grove (
lauretum
in Latin) in northern Italy (it was later
moved to a hilltop in Italy's Le Marche province where it is still a major place of Cathol-
ic pilgrimage). News of the miracle spread across the Catholic lands, prompting a spate of
copycat shrines, and during the Counter-Reformation the cult was actively encouraged in an
attempt to broaden the popular appeal of Catholicism. The Prague Loreta was one of fifty
built in the Czech Lands alone, each of the shrines following an identical design, with pride
of place given to a lime-wood statue, the
Black Madonna and Child
, encased in silver. Sadly
only a handful remain standing today, the Prague Loreta being the best preserved of those
that survived.
Narození Páně (Church of the Nativity)
Behind the Santa Casa, the Dientzenhofers built the much larger church of
Narození Páně
,
whichislikeamini-versionofsvMikulašdowninMaláStrana.There'sahighcherubcount,
plenty of gilding and a lovely organ replete with music-making angels and putti. On either
sideofthemainaltarareglasscabinetscontainingthefullyclothedandwax-headedstanding
skeletons of Spanish saints Felicissimus and Marcia and, next to them, paintings of St Apol-
lonia-whohadherteethsmashedinduringhermartyrdomandisnowinvokedfortoothache
- and St Agatha, carrying her severed breasts on a dish. As in the church, most of the saints
honoured in the
cloisters
are women. Without doubt, the weirdest of the lot is St Wilgefortis
(Starosta in Czech), whose statue stands in the final chapel of the cloisters. Daughter of the
king of Portugal, she was due to marry the king of Sicily, despite having taken a vow of vir-
