Shrines & Altars: the black Virgin of Loreto

This Baroque statue of the black Madonna of Loreto is venerated in a chapel in Rimov, a town in the Czech Repulic. The Italian shrine of Loreto is one of the world's most famous places of pilgrimage. According to an ancient legend, the Virgin's house was brought to the town from Nazareth by angels. All over the world replicas were built of the Loreto shrine.

Mary in art: a pieta

This pieta is placed in the side wall of the Candle Chapel, a church in the German place of pilgrimage Kevelaer. I took this picture when I was at the shrine in August last year. The Candle Chapel dates from the 17th century and borrows its name from the thousands of votive candles that are burned there each day. The statue however is modern.

Miraculous images: Maria Roggendorf

This image of the Virgin Mary is venerated in the Austrian village Maria Roggendorf, which has been a place of pilgrimage since the 15th century.

The first sanctuary of Roggendorf was a small chapel, built in 1291. In 1653 the chapel was replaced by a church dedicated to the Virgin's Nativity. When this church was destroyed by a fire in 1695, the Italian Baroque architect Carlo Antonio Carlone was commissioned to build the current sanctuary.

In the 18th century Roggendorf became very famous as a place of pilgrimage. On average, 5000 pilgrims would visit the site on the Virgin's feast days. However, in 1795 the Austrian emperor Joseph II forbid the pilgrimage as part of his secularist policies. The first public pilgrimage after that took place in 1924. Nowadays, the church of Maria Roggendorf is still an important regional shrine. The church has been a Basilica since 1988.