• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

ARTIST-AT-LARGE

exploring cultures with eyes wide open

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Community
  • About ARTIST-AT-LARGE
    • Contact
    • Minutiae
    • Copyright
    • Privacy Policy
    • Our Image Policy
  • Travel Resources
    • Art Fairs
    • Film Festivals
    • Open Studios
    • Galleries / Museums
      • Aix-en-Provence Museums
      • Avignon Museums
      • Berlin Museums
      • Paris 3e Galleries
      • Paris 6e Galleries
      • Sacramento Galleries
      • San Francisco Galleries
    • Really Great Bookstores
      • Berkeley Bookstores
      • Denver Bookstores
      • Oakland Bookstores
      • Portland Bookstores
      • San Francisco Bookstores
    • Partner Resources
  • IMAGES@ARTIST-AT-LARGE

Out Of The Archives:
The Santa Casa

April 4, 2008 By Kimberly Kradel Leave a Comment

The Santa Casa within The Loreto in Prague.
The Santa Casa within The Loreto in Prague.

The Santa Casa, at least the original one, was the house where it is believed that the Archangel Gabriel told Mary about the future birth of her son Jesus.

It is also believed that the original house and the scene played out within it, were in Nazareth. The original Santa Casa was moved from Nazareth to Loreto, Italy in 1278 because it was being damaged by the Saracens. The legend has it that because of this, the house was lifted up and moved by a host of angels, but it is quite possible that the angels took the human form of sailors and the moving was done brick by brick on a ship at the bequest of an Italian family by the name of Angeli.

In any case, it’s a great story and there were fifty replicas of the house built in Bohemia and Moravia. This one, at The Loreto, is by far the most venerated. The building of the small house began on June 3rd, 1626, by the grace of Baroness Benigna Katharina von Lobkowitz. She chose an Italian, G. B. Orsi, from Vienna as the architect of the Casa. It was for centuries the focus of pilgrimages by Catholics from all over Eastern Europe.

The Santa Casa also contains a miracle-working Black Madonna, Our Lady of Loreto, made of linden wood.

The Santa Casa
The Loreto
Loretanske Namesti 7
Hradcany, Prague 1

Open: Tu – Su: 9am – 12:15pm and 1pm – 4:30pm

Getting There: Trams 22 and 23, go to the top of the hill and follow the signs. If you walk all the way to The Castle, you’ve gone too far.

The outside of the Santa Casa, in The Loreto, in Prague.
Inside the Santa Casa in The Loreto in Prague.
The Santa Casa inside The Loreto in Prague.
One of the fountains in The Loreto in Prague.
The Santa Casa within The Loreto in Prague.
An outside corridor in The Loreto, Prague.

Filed Under: Culture, Prague, Travel with a Twist Tagged With: architecture, spirituality

Don’t forget to like and share our post links in your social media feeds using the share buttons at the end of each post!

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Outside Our Realm

These links will open in a new window. Enjoy!

Google Arts & Culture: Explore museums from around the world, discover and view hundreds of artworks at incredible zoom levels, and even create and share your own collection of masterpieces.

View The Sistine Chapel online as if you were actually there - alone with no other people to disturb your view! Use your mouse by holding down the right click and mousing through the room.

Get your groove on and explore radio stations around the world with Radio Garden.

This Is An Ad


Saatchi Art

These Are Ads

Blurb

Zenfolio: Your Photography Partner - 40% off limited time offer

Purchase Images

Support ARTIST-AT-LARGE by purchasing the site’s cultural and travel images for your next project or blog post on IMAGES@ARTIST-AT-LARGE.

Search The Site

BLOG CATEGORIES AND TRAVEL DESTINATIONS

These Are Ads


© 2023 · ARTIST-AT-LARGE · Powered by Imagely

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Community
  • About ARTIST-AT-LARGE
  • Travel Resources
  • IMAGES@ARTIST-AT-LARGE