The church of the Beata Maria Vergine di Loreto, in Rovereto, arose at the wish of the Confraternity of Saints Roch and Sebastian, which between 1688 and 1690 had a small church built at the edge of the road, today's via Mazzini, and in 1713 added a small hospital for the town's sick beside it. In 1740 the church and two neighbouring houses were demolished to raise a new building, set further back and twice as large, consecrated in 1769 by the Prince-Bishop of Trento, Cristoforo Sizzo. In 1783, with the reforms of Joseph II, the confraternity was dissolved and the church dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto.
What to see
The building is Baroque, with harmonious lines and sober decoration. The façade has pilasters and capitals and ends in a pediment with large scrolls; in the lower niches are the statues of Saint Francis and Saint Anthony, in the upper ones Saint Joseph and Saint John of the Cross.
The interior has a single nave with a vaulted ceiling. The marble altars along the walls hold the relics of the martyrs Crispin and Crispinian; on the high altar is the statue of Our Lady of Loreto, between Saint Scholastica and Saint Benedict. Beside the altar of the Sacred Heart an Early Christian slab from Rome is set into the wall.
Visiting
In 1920 the Rosminian fathers, back in Rovereto, brought the church into use again; it has remained the property of the archpriest's church of San Marco. Opening and service times should be checked with the parish.
Our editors' tip
Look at the floor: along the central aisle are five tombstones of notable families of early eighteenth-century Rovereto, who obtained burial here by giving the church altars and paintings. Beneath the presbytery was the tomb of the brethren.
