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With its ornamentation and rich decoration it contrasts strongly with the Capuchin Monastery, which stands next to it and administers it. The spiritual heart of the Loretto is the Santa Casa, a replica of the one which according to legend was miraculously brought by angels in a time of danger from Nazareth to Loretto in Northern Italy. The Santa Casa is said to be the house in which the Holy Family lived and in which it was announced to Our Lady that she would be the mother of our Saviour. The Prague Santa Casa and the Church of the Nativity are surrounded by a cloister with chapels decorated by frescoes depicting motifs from the Litany of Loretto. The Loretto Treasury contains a number of magnificent items donated by the nobility. The most valuable is the diamond monstrance the Sun of Prague, adorned by 6222 diamonds, which were previously part of the wedding dress of a devout Bohemian noblewoman. On the stroke of each hour the sound of bells floats gently across the square as the carillon in the tower plays a Czech pilgrimage hymn to Our Lady. |
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