Page 120 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Prague

118  PR A GUE AREA B Y AREA

o The Loreto
Loreta
Bell Tower
Ever since its construction in 1626, the Enclosed in this large
Loreto has been an important place of Baroque tower is a set
pilgrimage. It was commissioned by of 30 bells cast 1683–
Kateřina of Lobkowicz, a Czech aristocrat 91 in Amsterdam by
Claudy Fremy.
who was very keen to promote the legend
of the Santa Casa of Loreto (see opposite).
The heart of the complex is a copy of the
house believed to be the Virgin Mary’s.
The Santa Casa was enclosed by cloisters
in 1661, and a Baroque façade 60 years
later by Christoph and Kilian Ignaz
Dientzenhofer. The grandiose design and
miraculous stories about the Loreto were
part of Ferdinand II’s campaign to
recatholicize the Czechs (see pp32–3).

. Loreto Treasury
This gold-plated, diamond-
encrusted monstrance, for
displaying the host, is one of
the valuable liturgical items
in the Loreto treasury, most
of which originated in the
16th to 18th centuries. Entrance from
Loretánské náměstí

KEY
1 Chapel of St Ann
2 Chapel of St Francis Seraphim
3 Fountain decorated with a
sculpture of the Resurrection
4 Chapel of St Joseph Baroque
5 Chapel of the Holy Rood Entrance
6 Chapel of St Anthony of Padua The balustrade
above the Loreto’s
7 Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows front entrance is
8 This fountain sculpture is a decorated with
copy of The Ascension of the Virgin statues of St
Mary, taken from Jan Brüderle’s Joseph and
1739 sandstone statue, now in St John the
the Lapidarium (see p162). Baptist by
Ondřej Quitainer.

118-119_EW_Prague.indd 118 20/03/17 11:28 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Starsight template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.9)
Date 28th August 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm