LORET'TO (properly, LORETO), a city of the province of Ancona, in the kingdom of Italy, although of some architectural pretentious, and containing 5,300 inhabitants, is chiefly noticeable as the site of the celebrated sanctuary of the blessed Virgin Mary, called the Santa Casa, or holy house. The Santa Casa is reported to be the house, or a portion of the house, in which the Virgin lived in Nazareth, which was the scene of the annunciation of the nativity, and of the residence of our Lord with his mother and Joseph; and which, after the Holy Land had been finally abandoned to the infidel on the failure of the crusades, is believed to have been miraculously translated, first, in 1291, to Fiume in Dalmatia, and thence, Dec. 10, 1294, to Recauati, whence it was finally tmnsferred to its present site. Its name (Lat. Donus Lauretana) is derived from Laureta, the lady to whom the site belonged, It would be out of place in a work like this to enter into any polemical discussion of this legend. Although nuinberless pilgrims resort to the sanctuary, and although indulgences have been attached by Junta,' II., Sixtus V., and Innocent XII. to the pilgrimages, and to the prayers offered at the•hrine, yet the truth of the legend is no part of Catholic belief, and Catholics hold themselves free to examine critically its truth, and to admit or to reject it according to the rules of historical evidence. The church of the Santa Casa stands near the center of the town, in a piazza which possesses other architectural attractions, the chief of which are the governor's palace, built from the designs of Bramante, aud a fine bronze statue of pope Sixtus V. The great central door of the church is surinounted by a splendid bronze
statue of the Madonna; and in the interior are three magnificent bronze doors filled with bas-reliefs, representing the principal events of scriptural and ecclesiastical history. The celebrated holy house stands within. It is a small brick house with one door and one window, originally of rude material and construction, but now, from the devotion of successive generations, a marvel of art and of costliness. It is entirely cased with white marble, exquisitely sculptured, after Bramante's designs, by Sansovino, Bandinelli, Giovanni Bolognese, and other eminent artists. The subjects of the bas reliefs are all taken froin the history of the Virgin Mary in relation to the mystery of the incarnation, as the annunciation, the visitation, the nativity, with the exception of three on the eastern side, which are mainly devoted to the legend of the holy house itself and of its translation. The rest of the interior of the church is rich with bas reliefs, mosaics, frescos, paintings, and carvings in bronze. Of this material the finest work is the font, which is a masterpiece of art. The holy house having been at all times an object of devout veneration, its treasury of votive offerings is one of the richest in the western world. It suffered severely in the French occupation of 1796, but it has 'since received numerous and most costly- accessions. The fmscos of the treasury chapel are among the finest to be found outside of Rome.