The Prague Loreto

The Loreto in Prague started being built in 1626 when it replaced several houses that were left abandoned after the Battle of White Mountain in 1620. Finishing the church took quite a few years. The construction started with the Holy Stable, the central building of the Loreto, representing the legendary stable in which Saint Marysupposedly lived in Nazareth. The sculptures as we can see them today were added to the church only after 1640.The Stable (central part of the church) was gradually surrounded by a two-storey cloister. In each corner there was a chapel. In 1735 Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer, one of the most prominent architects in Prague at that time, replaced the central chapel in the east wing with a Church to the Nativity of the Lord.Most people know the Loreto thanks to its beautiful carillon made by the clock maker Peter Naumann. It was installed in the main spire in 1694. There are altogether 30 bells, 29 of them are originals, only one was damaged in the 18th century and replaced. The carillon is a very complex and complicated mechanism, similar to those in Amsterdam, Berlin or Brugge.