Holy House of Loreto in Głogówek

The Loreto House in Głogówek is a copy of the Holy House (Santa Casa) of Loreto, completed in 1630 at the expense of Count Georg III von Oppersdorff and enclosed within the Franciscan church at 3 Klasztorna Street. It is a "church within a church": a small Baroque building whose walls were covered in illusionistic paintings by the Moravian artist Franz Anton Sebastini in the 18th century.

History: sketches brought back from Loreto

Georg III von Oppersdorff, known as the Great, was a fervent devotee of the Virgin Mary. After studying at the Jesuit college in Graz, in 1610 he made a pilgrimage from Rome to Loreto, where the idea of a copy of the Santa Casa in his home town was born. He made sketches and measurements, and in 1615 he visited Loreto again. He could carry out the plan only once Głogówek had become Catholic again: in 1620 the count bought back the former friary estate for 7,000 thalers, and in 1628 the Franciscans returned to the town. The church and the Loreto House were consecrated on 7 December 1630 by Johann Balthasar Liesch, auxiliary bishop of Wrocław. The house originally stood outside, on the north side of the church; in 1636 a north wing was added to the church which – as with the Italian original – enclosed it under its vault.

What to see

• The walls of the house, with painted pilasters, cornices and figures of saints – the work of Franz Anton Sebastini from 1770–1780, commissioned by Count Heinrich Ferdinand von Oppersdorff. One of the frescoes shows angels carrying the Holy House through the air above a landscape.
• The Rococo gable with a Marian glory above the front.
• The interior, with an altar behind an ornamental grille and a copy of the statue of Our Lady of Loreto. Entrances lead in from the two side walls.
• In the church: the Rococo high altar of 1751 with a painting of the Ecstasy of St Francis by Joseph Lux of Opava, a pulpit crowned with a figure of Moses by Johann Schubert, and St Anthony's Chapel of 1650–1651.

Did you know

During the plague of 1633–1636, the authorities, clergy and burghers of Prudnik took a solemn vow in 1633 that they and their descendants would make a pilgrimage to the Loreto House in Głogówek in perpetuity. A local legend says the plaster inside the house fell off three times, until Sebastini took it as a sign and painted his frescoes on what remained. The church tower holds the Eight O'Clock Bell, which Oppersdorff bought from Ziębice in 1649; after the Second World War it ended up in Fulda and returned to Głogówek only on 6 June 2001.

Tripto tips

• This is an active shrine, not a museum. The friary says visits are possible by prior arrangement with the custodian: tel. +48 690 637 884, glogowek@franciszkanie.pl. Do not treat Mass times as visiting hours, and keep quiet during services.
• Allow 30–45 minutes for the house and the church.
• Combine the visit with a walk around Głogówek: the Marian column on the market square dates from 1677 and is one of the oldest in Upper Silesia, and the Oppersdorff castle is close by.