For Sale by Owner

LORETO, ANCONA, LE MARCHE. ITALY.
Violetta&Beatrice, Loreto (AN), Le Marche

Lovely 3 bedroomed apartment located in a three-story, three-unit townhouse dating back to the fourteenth century.

Located on the top floor, the apartment (110 sqm), which was completely renovated four years ago, benefits from abundant natural light.



There are two large terraces, one on each side of the unit. The smaller of the two (10 sqm) boasts a wonderful view of Mount Conero and the seaside; it also overlooks the dramatic Musone Valley.



The larger terrace (20 sqm) offers a completely different feeling: one of being a spectator of history itself. It overlooks the dome of the Loreto Basilica and the charming rooftops of the surrounding houses

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Bice and Violetta, the two cats of the owner of the property, enjoy spending their time attentively watching passersby on the streets below and the swallows flying above the roofs during the spring.

The Faenza cotto floors treated with linseed oil shine bright and give the house both a coziness and a certain elegance



The living room is an open space enriched by wood beams across high ceilings and a beautiful fireplace

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From the wonderful kitchen, a French window leads onto the large terrace so you can enjoy your meals outside on sunny days



A hallway, lined with shelves on both sides, leads to a small room (currently used as a closet) and to the three bedrooms

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One bedroom is currently used as a studio and is the perfect spot for writing or painting From its windows there are marvelous views of the Adriatic coastline and the villages down the valley. During the winter, a woodstove makes this room the coziest in all the house.

The apartment has two bathrooms, one with bathtub and the other with shower and connections to install a washing machine

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This description cannot possibly do justice to the joys and charms of the place. Even on cloudy days the brightness and atmosphere will captivate you. The proximity to the airport (just 20 minutes from Ancona Falconara, served by Ryanair with daily flights from Liverpool and Stanstead) will make it very easy to come as often as you wish. The beautiful beaches of Porto Recanati are just 5 minutes away and Mount Conero and its characteristic rocky beaches not ten minutes from this delightful Italian getaway.



“Apartments in Loreto can be rented up to 650€ per week as pilgrims visit the Holy Mary sanctuary all the year round” (Italia! Magazine, May 2007)

Price € 460,000 Euro

Owner: Francesca Romana Onofri

francesca.o@alice.it

francescaromana.o@gmail.com
Loreto

The striking hill town of Loreto lies just inland from the Adriatic Sea and is one of the world's most important shrines to the cult of the Virgin Mary. The town mainly exists to service the thousands of pilgrims who travel here from around the world.



The great dome of the Sanctuario della Santa Casa dominates the countryside for miles around; below it stands the focus of piety - the rustic cottage from Nazareth that witnessed the Annunciation and the childhood of Jesus (see the tradition of the Holy House below).
Although the Santa Casa arrived, according to tradition, in 1294, it was not until 1507 that the Church finally approved of Loreto as a place of pilgrimage, though work on the church had begun in 1468. It was Pope Julius II who decided to pull out all the stops and give the primitive cottage a fit setting.



The result is a showcase of work by many of the most celebrated names of Late Renaissance Italy and gives even the unbeliever good reason to come here. Started on Gothic lines, later architects including Bramante and Sansovino gave the church a thorough Late Renaissance treatment.
Inside, under the dome, is the great marble facing that protects the Holy House, carried out in the 16thC to Bramante's designs by the great medal-designer Gian Cristoforo Romano, Andrea Sansovino and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. Note how around its base centuries of kneeling pilgrims have worn furrows in the marble.
The curious statue within the walls of the Santa Casa of the Black Madonna of Loreto is a modern copy of the original destroyed in a fire in 1921; some claim that the tradition of the Black Madonnas to be found in many famous shrines is a reference to the prophetic line referring to Mary in the Song of Solomon, "I am black, but comely"; others more prosaically point out that the statues were often carved in dark hardwoods, later further blackened by the smoke of votive candles.
At the bottom of the right nave are the church's greatest artistic treasurers - gem-stone coloured frescoes in the Sacristy of St Mark by Merlozzo da Forli', and Luca Signorelli's noble frescoes in the nearby Sacristy of St John. Piazza della Madonna, the elegant set-piece square with a delicate Baroque fountain that fronts the Sanctuary is flanked on two sides by the arcades of the 16thC Palazzo Apostolico.
The Museo-Pinacoteca inside preserves a fine group of late works by Lorenzo Lotto (the Venetian master retired and died in the monastery here in 1556) and an unusual collection of Renaissance ceramic pharmacist's jars. Hidden away in a corner are also some 70 carved blocks of box-wood used until the 1940's to stamp designs on pilgrims bodies which were then indelibly tattooed as permanent souvenirs of their pilgrimage to Loreto.


About the Conero National Park
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