LORETTO, a town of Italy, in the Marca or Marche of Ancona, with a bishop's see. It is small, but fortified; and contains the casa santa, or the house of Nazareth, in which they pretend Jesus Christ was brought up. They tell us, that it was carried by angels into Dalmatia, and thence to the place where it now stands. The inner part of this house or chapel is very old, but it is surrounded by a marble wall, and within a church built of free-stone. The famous lady of Loretto, who holds the infant Jesus in her arms, stands upon the principal altar: this statue is of cedar wood, three feet high; but her face can hardly be seen, on account of the smoke of the numerous lamps round about her. She is clothed with cloth of gold, set off with jewels; and the little Jesus is covered with a shirt. He holds a globe in his hand, and is adorned with rich jewels. There are prodigious numbers frequently go in pilgrimage to Loretto, particularly at Easter and Whitsuntide, among whom there are many of the first distinction. Every pilgrim, after having performed his devotion, makes the Virgin a present proportionable to his ability; whence it may be readily concluded, that this chapel must be full of immense riches.—Christina, queen of Sweden, made the Virgin a present of a crown of gold, worth above 100,000 crowns; and Isabella, infanta of Spain, sent her a garment which cost 40,000 ducats. Lewis XIII. of France, and his queen, sent her two crowns of gold, enriched with diamonds. Besides these crowns, they sent an angel of massy silver, holding in his hand the figure of the dauphin, of solid gold. The place where the governor resides stands near the church, and the ecclesiastics who are employed in it lodge in the same palace, where they receive the pilgrims of high distinction. As for the town itself, exclusive of the chapel, it is neither very considerable nor very agreeable; nor does it contain above 300 inhabitants, who are almost all shoemakers, tailors, or sellers of chaplets. The environs of this town are very agreeable, and in fine weather the high mountains of Croatia may be seen from hence. It is seated on a mountain, in E. Long. 13. 50. N. Lat. 43. 24.