Loretto

Loretto, a town of Italy, 3 miles from the Adriatic, and 15 miles S. of Ancona, on the right bank of the Musone, is chiefly noted as containing the Holy House of Nazareth, which tradition states to have been miraculously moved, first to

Dalmatia, and then in 1295 to Loretto. The church of Santa Casa is in the centre of the town, and before it is a statue of Sixtus V., who made the town. The Casa itself is cased in marble, beautifully sculptured, and contains an image of the Virgin, said to be by St. Luke.