Sanctuary of Our Lady of Loreto in Chiavenna

Built in 1618, the sanctuary was inspired by the Holy House of Loreto, which arrived in Italy from Tersatto and originally from Palestine. The foundation stone was laid on 27 March of the same year by Archpriest Giovan Pietro Paravicini, who blessed the chapel on 5 July and donated a wooden statue of the Madonna and Child crafted in Milan.

Despite the challenges of the period, including the devastating Piuro landslide of September 1618, the generosity of the faithful allowed the church to expand with side chapels and two elegant bell towers, eventually leading to the construction of the balcony completed in 1730.

Inside the Holy House, an altar made of walnut burl still houses the seventeenth-century statue of the Madonna and Child created by Brother Giuseppe da Molteno. Nearby, other artworks celebrate Marian devotion, including The Annunciation by Giacomo Guglielmetti (1716) and sixteen paintings depicting episodes from the Virgin Mary’s life commissioned by local families. Additional altars and statues come from suppressed churches, including those dedicated to Saint Rosalia and Saint Peter, silent witnesses to a deeply rooted religious past.

The oldest and most valuable works, now preserved in the Treasury of Chiavenna’s Collegiate Church, include seventeenth-century oil paintings depicting the Madonna and Child with saints and The Coronation of the Virgin, attributed to brothers Giovan Battista and Giovan Paolo Recchi. Alongside the sacred figures, the patrons who commissioned the works are also portrayed, reflecting the private devotion that shaped the sanctuary’s history.

Among statues, carved woodwork and precious paintings, the sanctuary preserves its historic soul and remains an essential destination for visitors seeking not only spirituality, but also beauty and the living memory of a past that continues to endure among the Rhaetian Alps.