Santuario della Madonna di Loreto
In 1537 Jacopo Spinelli built a modest chapel in the likeness of the Holy House of Nazareth, transported by sea in Loreto in 1294, at the time of the Crusades. Spinelli commissioned Jacopo Siculo to make a votive fresco with the image of the Madonna and Child, St. Sebastian, Anthony the Abbot and the House of Nazareth. Legend has it that the image of the Madonna was soon venerated by citizenship following several prodigious events. By the Bishop Fulvio Orsini, then it began the construction of a great temple which, under its majestic times, incorporated the Spinelli Chapel. The design was entrusted to Annibale Lippi: the outside is almost square, while the interior layout is in the shape of a Greek cross; in the four corner areas there are two large chapels, the sacristy and a lounge. The portal overlooking the square was completed only in 1662. The prospect is covered with slabs of squared travertine, divided by pilasters decorated with friezes simple. The initial project was the construction of a dome, but was never built. The vast interior spaces include seven chapels built over time by noble families of Spoleto. The Way of Our Lady of Loreto, which connects the Sanctuary to the St. Matew's Gate, is marked by a portico 300 meters long and consists of 81 arches.
