ÖSTERREICH	AUSTRIA
Bundesland: Burgenland
Bezirk: Eisenstadt-Umgebung

map →

Loretto is situated at an elevation of 218 m at the foot of the Leithagebirge low mountain region of northern Burgenland, about 13 km north of Burgenland's capital, Eisenstadt. As of 1 January 2021, the municipality has a population of 476.

The earliest traces o human settlemetnts date to the Neolithic period, about 5,500–4,300 BC. The history of Loretto began when in 1644 a copy of the statue of Our Lady of Loreto in Italy was placed in a newly built copy of the Casa Santa of Loreto that was built in place of the earlier chapel of St. John which had been destroyed by the Turks in 1529. In 1645 a 'hospitium' was founded for the order of the Servites who were placed in charge of the pilgrimage site. In the ensuing years the pilgrmage site became the centre of a new village, Lauretum. When Count Ferenc III Nádasdy came in possession of the domains in 1648, he ordered to build a new church and a new Servite monastery which were then built in 1651–1659. The village at first belonged to the community of Leithaprodersdorf, then became part of the community of Stotzing and finally became an indepent community. In 1666 Loretto obtained the status of a market town. In 1683, the Turks set fire to Loretto and village, church and monastery suffered large damages. It took until 1699 that church and monastery could be restored. Soon after Prince Paul I Esterházy came in its possession, Loretto at first suffered further damages by the Kuruc in 1705; thereafter, however, the market could flourish again. In 1787 the Servite monastery was dissolved. After World War I and the referendum of 1920, Burgenland (until then part of the Kingdom of Hungary) became part of Austria. In 1971 Leithaprodersdorf, Loretto and Stotzing were merged into the new, larger municipality of Leithaprodersdorf. Loretto, however, regained its status of an independent municipality in 1990.

The pilgrimage church Maria Loretto (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception) [left] was built in 1651–1659 in late Renaissance style and the pilgrimage chapel was moved to the western end of the present church. After having been destroyed by the Turks in 1683 it was restored and enlarged by the addition of a cloister. The church was restored thouroughly in the second half of the 18th century. The two church towers of 1749 were severely damaged by a large fire in 1781. The characteristic onion roofs of the towers were then replaced by the flat-angle pyramidal roofs that we see today. In 1997 the church obtained the status of a Basilica minor.

(see also list of other basilicae minores depicted on glasses of this collection)

[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretto_(Burgenland), http://www.gemeinde-loretto.atf]