The Loreto Chapel

Just like the innkeeper Georg Paprion from San Candido, also the innkeeper Johann Klettenhammer from Prato Drava, was a zealous pilgrim. Both lived around the same time, and like the outer church realised by Paprion, the Loreto Chapel realised by Klettenhammer also provides a testimony to Baroque devotion. The town of Loreto in Italy was a popular destination for pilgrims even in the 17th century, since drawings and paintings of its Chapel of Mercy can be found everywhere in Tyrol. Johann Klettenhammr brought back a copy of the miraculous image from his pilgrimage to Loreto, and constructed a chapel in the style and shape of the Chapel of Mercy - the Loreto Chapel - beside his house. The chapel was consecrated in 1650. It was struck by detritus carried by the flooding of the two rivers, the Mittereggerbach and the Mühlbach several times - the last time in 1965. For the inhabitants it was a miracle, that the chapel had never been destroyed by these miseries: hence, the Loreto Chapel became more and more of a destination for pilgrims. The fresco on the outside wall depicts the legendary transport of the house of the Sacred mother by angels to Loreto. Visiting times: daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.