Rome in the Footsteps of an XVIIIth Century Traveller

You may wish to read an introduction to this section first.

Basilica della Santa Casa: relief by Nicolò Tribolo (ca 1530) depicting angels carrying the Holy House of the Virgin Mary from Nazareth to Loreto

A 1634 Official Account of the transportation of the Holy House That the Reader may see what weak proofs and little evidence they have of the miraculous transportation of this house from Judea hither, I shall heer insert the whole Relation of it made by themselves, which is translated into 13 several languages and hung up in tables heer in the Church: and in English runs thus: The miraculous Origin and translation of the Church of our Lady of Loretto. The Church of Loreto was a Chamber of the B. Virgin nigh Jerusalem, in which she was born and bred and saluted by the Angel, and therein conceived and brought up her Son Jesus to the age of 12 years. This chamber after the Ascension of our Saviour was by the Apostles consecrated into a Church in honour of the B. Lady: and S. Luke made a picture to her, likewise extant therein to be seen at this very day. It was frequented with great devotion by the people of the Countrey where it stood whilst they were Catholics. But when leaving the Faith of Christ they followed the Sect of Mahomet, the Angels took it and carried it into Sclavonia and placed it by a town called Flumen, where not being had in due reverence, they again transported it over the Sea to a wood in the territory of Recanati belonging to a Noble woman called Loretta, from whence it took the name of our Lady of Loreto, and thence again they carried it, by reason of the many robberies committed, to a mountain of two brothers in the said territory: and from thence finally, in respect of their disagreement about the gifts and offerings, to the common high-way not far distant, where it now remains without foundations, famous for many signs, graces and miracles; whereat the inhabitants of Recanati, who often came to see it, much wondering, environed it with a strong and and thick wall, yet could no man tell whence it came originally, till in the year 1296. the B.V. appeared in sleep to a holy devout man, to whom she revealed it, and he divulged it to others of Authority in this Province, who determining forthwith to try the truth of the vision, resolved to chuse xvi men of credit, who to that effect should go all together to the City of Nazareth, as they did, carrying with them the measures of this Church, and comparing therewith the foundations remnant, they found them wholly agreeable; and in a wall there by engraven, that it stood there, and had left the place. Which done they presently returning back, published the premises to be true: and from that time forward it hath been certainly known, that this Church was the Chamber of the Virgin Mary: to which Christians began then, and have ever since had great devotion, for that in it daily she hath done and doth many and many miracles. One Frere Paul de Sylva Eremite of great sanctity, who lived in a cotage nigh unto this Church, whither daily he went to Mattins, said that for ten years space on the 8th. of September, two hours before day he saw a light descend from heaven upon it, which he said was the B. V. who there shewed her self on the Feast of her Nativity. In confirmation of all which two virtuous men of the city of Recanati divers times declared unto the Prefect of Terreman and Governour of the forementioned Church as followeth, The one called Paul Renalduci avouched, that his Grandfather saw when the Angels brought it over the Sea, placed it in the forementioned wood, and had often visited it there: the other called Francis Prior in like sort affirmed, that his Grandfathers Grandfather, being 120 years old, had also much frequented it in the same place, and for further proof that it had been there, he reported that his Grandfathers Grandfather had a house nigh unto it, wherein he dwelt and that in his time it was carried by the Angels from thence to the mountain of the two Brothers, where they placed it as abovesaid. By order of the right reverend Monsignor Vincent Cassal of Bolognia Gouvernor of this holy place, under protection of the most reverend Cardinal Moroni. I Robert Corbington Priest of the Society of Jesus in the year 1634. have faithfully translated the premises out of the Latine original hanging in the said Church. John Ray - Observations (..) made in a journey through part of (..) Italy in 1663

According to tradition in 1291 angels carried the house of the Virgin Mary from Nazareth to a location in Dalmatia and three years later to a hill near Recanati in the Marches. A wall was built around the house and a small wooden Madonna and Child (Our Lady of Loreto) was placed inside. Pilgrims began to visit the shrine (known as la Santa Casa/the Holy House), but for almost two centuries it had only a local relevance.
In June 1464 Cardinal Pietro Barbo accompanied Pope Pius II to Ancona from where the Pope planned to start a Crusade to take back Constantinople. In August the Pope died and Cardinal Barbo, on his way to Rome to attend the conclave, fell gravely ill at Recanati. He was advised to seek the help of Our Lady of Loreto and he visited the Holy House where he fell asleep. In a dream he was told he would be the next pope and when he woke up the illness had gone. A few days later he became Pope Paul II and he ordered the construction of a large sanctuary.

(left) Porta Marina; (right) view towards Mt. Conero and the Adriatic Sea; (inset) a bee, heraldic symbol of Pope Urban VIII

Loretto is situate on a very bold and commanding eminence. This town is modern, and owes its existence to the Santissima Casa, and its splendor to the zeal or the policy of Sixtus Quintus. It is large, well built, populous, and, notwithstanding its elevated site, well supplied by an aqueduct with water. It is surrounded with a rampart, and from that rampart, commands a varied and most delightful prospect on all sides.
John Chetwode Eustace - A Classical Tour through Italy in 1802
Because Loreto is situated only three miles from the coast, the Popes feared that its new sanctuary, to which pilgrims were expected to donate gold and silver ex-votos, could become a target for pirate raids or even prompt an attempt by the Ottomans to seize such an important symbol of the Christian faith. For this reason they immediately started the construction of defensive walls which were upgraded in the XVIIth century.

Rear side of Basilica della Santa Casa designed by Baccio Pontelli and having the aspect of a fortress

Broadly speaking the construction of Basilica della Santa Casa occurred at the same time as that of S. Pietro Nuovo in Rome. It began at the end of the XVth century and it was completed in the XVIIth century with some minor additions in the XVIIIth century. Many of the popes and architects (e.g. Donato Bramante and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger) involved in the construction of S. Pietro had a role in that of Basilica della Santa Casa.

Walls: (left) polygonal bastion built for Pope Urban VIII; (right) round bastion built by Antonio da Sangallo

Pope Sixtus IV and Pope Julius II issued bulls granting indulgences to those who visited Loreto. On the miraculous voyage of the Holy House the latter wrote ut pie creditur (as the pious ones believe) in his bull, because the event was met with some scepticism during the Renaissance.
Today the Holy House is thought to have been removed from Nazareth and shipped to Europe by the defenders of Acre, the last remnant of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, before the fall of the town in 1291. The reference to the angels perhaps was due to members of the Byzantine Angelos family having been involved in the relocation of the building (they ruled Epiros in Northern Greece in the XIIIth century).

(left) Porta Romana; (right) 1590 inscription with the coat of arms of Pope Sixtus V

Pope Sixtus V was born in the Marches and he did much to improve the living conditions of its inhabitants. At Loreto the initiatives promoted by the Pope were overseen by Cardinal Antonio Maria Galli, Bishop of Osimo.
The Pope made Loreto a bishopric see and in order to provide it with a sizeable population he asked all towns of the Marches to send at least a family to Loreto, which however remained a very small town and its diocese was united to that of Recanati in 1592. Today Loreto has a special status (Territorial Prelature) inside the Archdiocese of Ancona-Osimo.

Western entrance to Piazza della Madonna, the main square of Loreto

The usual access to Piazza della Madonna is through Corso Boccalini, a street starting at Porta Romana and entering the square at its south-western corner. A more spectacular approach to the square is via the western portal of Palazzo Apostolico. It bears the name of Cardinal Filippo Guastavillani, nephew of Pope Gregory XIII and Protector of the Holy House in 1580-1587. At that time the fountain, the bell tower, the statue of Pope Sixtus V and the façade were yet to be built, but one would think the contrary because the portal frames them perfectly.

Piazza della Madonna

Hippodamus of Mileto is regarded as the father of town planning for having suggested a grid design for the development of Piraeus, the port of Athens. The ancient Romans developed a pattern for the towns they founded which was based on that of castra, their military camps. In the XVth century the importance of town planning (Ideal City) was revived by Leon Battista Alberti and other architects. Symmetry and proportions based on mathematical formulas (e.g. golden ratio, harmonious proportion) were key elements of the Ideal City. These principles influenced the design of Piazza della Madonna which should have been surrounded on three sides by Palazzo Apostolico (but the southern side was never built). You may wish to see the courtyard of Palazzo della Sapienza in Rome which resembles Piazza della Madonna with the church on the eastern side of a rectangle and double porticoes on the other three sides.

(above) Northern side of Palazzo Apostolico; (below) details of its decoration showing three ostrich feathers, heraldic symbol of Pope Leo X

The fact that the southern wing of Palazzo Apostolico was not built is not without positive aspects. The current front of low houses is more distant from the centre of the square than the southern wing would have been so it does not project its shadow over the square as the planned building would have. The construction of Palazzo Apostolico was initiated during the pontificate of Pope Leo X and it was completed during that of Pope Benedict XIV nearly 250 years later.

Statue of Pope Sixtus V by Antonio di Bernardino Calcagni and Tiburzio Vergelli (1589). A lion was one of the Pope's heraldic symbols

The statue was paid for by the eight cardinals from the Marches created by the Pope during the five years of his pontificate. Some of them were chosen from his inner circle: one of his grand-nephews, his cup-bearer, his private secretary, a Franciscan friend and another friend from Camerino, the hometown of his mother.
Pope Sixtus V is still very popular in the Marches, especially in their southern part where he is regarded as a national hero. Two similar bronze statues by other sculptors were erected in the main squares of Camerino and Fermo in the same period.

Fountain designed by Carlo Maderno and Giovanni Fontana

Developments at Loreto were often prompted by those occurring in Rome. In 1612 Pope Paul V celebrated the completion of an aqueduct which carried water to the western part of Rome by building Acqua Paola, a gigantic fountain. In 1614 the completion of an aqueduct carrying water to Loreto was celebrated with a large fountain at the centre of the town. Its shape based on sections of circles and squares and the use of coloured marbles can be seen in many Roman fountains (e.g. Fontana del Pantheon).

Detail of the fountain

The bronze decorations were added at a later period. They included eagles and dragons, the heraldic symbol of Pope Paul V. The statues were made by Tarquinio and Pietro Paolo Iacometti who worked at the Baptistery of Osimo. Another of their statues can be seen in the image used as background for this page. Perhaps Georg Raphael Donner saw it during his stay in Italy in 1715 and had it in mind when in 1737 he made a statue having the same subject for a fountain in Vienna.

(left) Corso Boccalini, the main street of Loreto; (centre) dome of the Basilica; (right) dome of S. Maria del Fiore in Florence

The dome was completed in 1500 by Giuliano da Sangallo. Similar to the dome of S. Pietro it cannot be properly seen from the main square because the façade hides its view. The lantern was added in ca 1590, but it was modified at the end of the XIXth century to emphasize the resemblance of this dome with that of S. Maria del Fiore in Florence.

(left to right) Bell tower designed by Luigi Vanvitelli (1750); weathervane at the top of the bell tower showing the Holy House; clock indicating the "Italian Hour" and above it coat of arms of Pope Benedict XIV; clock indicating the astronomical hour and coat of arms of Pope Clement VIII (the cocks on top of the bells are the heraldic symbols of Cardinal Galli)

Luigi Vanvitelli was one of the leading architects of his time and he spent many years in Ancona where he improved the harbour facilities. His bell tower fits well with Palazzo Apostolico because of his meticulous use of the same materials.
The presence of two clocks was frequent in Rome (e.g. in SS. Trinità dei Monti).

(left) Fontana dei Galli by the Iacometti brothers; (centre) Papal flag; (right) ex-votos

Gallo means cock in Italian and Cardinal Galli placed his heraldic symbol right below the dragon of Pope Paul V in this fountain outside Porta Romana. In origin it was a rectangular trough for horses, but in 1889 the basin was completely redesigned and slightly moved from its original location.
Basilica della Santa Casa is a property of the Holy See, but, unlike Palazzo di Castelgandolfo, it does not enjoy extraterritorial status, so it is part of the Republic of Italy.

Loreto in 1582 in a fresco in Galleria delle Mappe Geografiche in Palazzo del Belvedere in Rome

Move to page two for a detailed visit to the Basilica or to:
Introductory page
Roman Ancona
Medieval Ancona
XVth Century Ancona
XVIth Century Ancona
Papal Ancona
Cingoli
Fabriano
Jesi
Osimo
Recanati