Sanctuary of Our Lady of Loretto in Piotrkowice

Piotrkowice, a town by a busy national road, is a place of obligatory stop - not only for those seeking spiritual solace, but also for lovers of unusual stories.

The village is primarily a place of Marian worship, the heart of which is the famous Loreto House - one of the most important and beautiful places spiritually connected with the Italian sanctuary of Santa Casa di Loreto.

According to 17th-century sources, Piotrkowice was a place of unofficial Marian worship, later recognized by the church authorities. The Mother of God was supposed to appear here to the faithful and bestow graces on them. In particular, she took care of pregnant women, women who could not wait for children and young married couples.

One of the faithful who were to experience graces here was the castellan of Połaniec, Zofia Rokszycka, weakened by the hardships of childbirth. The family, grateful for the healing of the woman and her son, founded a wooden chapel here in the 17th century, which was already called the House of Loreto.

The fame of Piotrkowice quickly spread among the faithful. For the needs of pilgrims coming here, a church and a monastery were built. As early as in the 18th century, the Bernardine monks who served here built a Loreto chapel in Piotrkowice, together with a small room, which faithfully reflected the size of the House in Loreto.

The monastery church now serves as a parish church. It is a stone late Renaissance temple. It consists of a simple, rectangular nave and a narrower chancel. On the west side you will also find a high tower covered with a Baroque cupola.

What stands out the most, however, is definitely the late Baroque Loretto chapel. It has the shape of an octagon inscribed in an oval. It is inside it that you will find the spiritual heart of the establishment - the Loreto house. In the altar niche there is a Gothic figure of the Madonna. In the reliquary on the right wall there is a figurine which, according to legend, was plowed out of the Piotrkowice soil in the 17th century.

Today, the service in Polish Loreto is performed by the Discalced Carmelites.