Loreto Chapel in Rumburk

The Rumburk Loreto is a Baroque gem of northern Bohemia. This sacral monument, open all year round, is situated in the centre of town. Until 1950 it was part of the Capuchin monastery complex. The Loreto Chapel of the Virgin Mary, the ambit, Pilgrimage Chapel of the Holy Stairs and the monastery Church of St. Lawrence were built by the princes of Liechtenstein, to whom the Rumburk estate belonged in the past. At the beginning of the 18th century a copy of the Holy House – the house where, according to tradition, Maria lived with Joseph and Jesus in Nazareth – was built in Rumburk. The building plans for one of Bohemia’s finest loretos were supplied by the prominent Austrian architect Johann Lucas Hildebrandt. The outstanding sculptural work is by the Saxon sculptor Franz Biener. The other parts of the Loreto complex were built in the 18th century.

Tours of the Rumburk Loreto are individual, without a guide. Visitors go at their own pace and make the tour as long as they want. The ambit contains permanent exhibitions on the history of the Loreto chapel, the Capuchin monastery and an exhibition of photographs and plans of the Loreto underground areas. The entrance building houses a Czech-German exhibition on ecclesiastical art of the Šluknov region. During the year the Rumburk Loreto, which is undergoing gradual restoration, hosts concerts, exhibitions and accompanying cultural events. Regular holy masses are held at the Marian shrine. During the winter the Church of St. Lawrence provides tours of the monastery nativity scene dating from 1922.