The Chapel of Our Lady of Loreto: A Place of Peace and Reflection
Located on a hill overlooking Clervaux, the Chapel of Our Lady of Loreto is a religious building built in the late Baroque style in the 18th century. Once a place of pilgrimage and meditation for local residents, it continues to charm visitors today with its peaceful atmosphere, rococo interior, and serene view over the valley.
Loreto is a town on the east coast of Italy, near Ancona. Since 1924, the "Santa Casa", a house in which Mary is said to have lived in Nazareth in Israel, has been venerated here. According to an ancient tradition, after the Holy Land fell definitively to the Mamelukes in 1291, angels brought the building first to Croatia and then to Italy.
(The angel legends probably refer to the name of the patrician Angeli family of Constantinople, who probably organised and paid for the transport of the building. The Virgin of Loreto thus became the patron saint of pilots). The Santa Casa originally consisted of three stone walls. The apse wall in front of which the altar stands was added later.
Excavations carried out in the 1950s and 1960s in the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth and in the sanctuary of Loreto revealed that the building was built in front of a grotto located beneath the place of worship in Israel. In 1638, in gratitude for the birth of their son Louis XIV, the parents, King Louis XIII and his wife Anne of Austria, gave a golden baby whose weight matched that of the newborn. In 1624, Empress Eleonora had a corresponding shrine built in the Augustinian church in Vienna, in which the heart of her husband Ferdinand II was later buried.
When the assets of the seigneury of Clervaux were auctioned off in 1927/28, the chapel of Lorette and its forest became the property of the Luxembourg State. It is also unique in the country as a monument to garden art. It bears witness to the lively devotion to the Virgin Mary during the Counter-Reformation period and shows how small regional pilgrimage centres were successfully created.
The Loreto chapel stands out not only for its exceptional architecture, but also for the richness and quality of its furnishings.
The barrel vaulted ceiling features a number of vivid rocaille decorations. Niches adorned with statues enliven the walls. The sculptures represent saints linked to the founding family.
The high altar with its tabernacle is above all a setting for the image of the Virgin of Loreto. According to local tradition, it was brought from Italy in the 16th century by Charles de Lannoy. However, stylistic details suggest that it was made in the 17th century.
To the left and right of the main altar are two funerary monuments in black and white marble. They commemorate Albert-Eugène de Lannoy and Anne-Marguerite de Reed de Satsfeldt and Adrien-Gérard de Lannoy and Jeanne-Thérèse-Claire de Bochholtz.
Every first Monday of the month from 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM
Discover a gem of Clervaux’s religious heritage during a guided tour of the Chapel of Our Lady of Loreto, led by Marie-Justine, a specialist in religious heritage. This tour takes you deep into the spiritual and architectural history of this iconic site, perched high above Clervaux.
Held every first Monday of the month from 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM, the visit is a perfect complement to the morning tour of the Church of the Abbey of Saint Maurice. It’s an ideal opportunity for lovers of religious heritage to spend a full day discovering the spiritual treasures of Clervaux.
Next visits: Monday, July 7, Monday, August 4, Monday, September 1, Monday, October 6, Monday, November 3, Monday, December 1.
Information and registration:
Free guided tour
Tourist Center Clervaux
+352 92 00 72
The tour starts at the Tourist Center Clervaux. Along the way, you’ll learn more about the nearby religious buildings and their ties to the town’s history, the Saint Hubert rock, the hermitage, and the links between the de Lannoy family and Clervaux.
Private guided tours of the chapel are available all year round upon request at the Tourist Center.
