The little town of Loreto lies on a hill near the Adriatic Sea, some 20 km/13 mi south of Ancona. Since the 14th century it has been Italy's second most important place of pilgrimage after Rome.
According to legend the Virgin's house in Nazareth, the Santa Casa,
was transported by angels to Trsat near Rijeka (Fiume) in the former Yugoslavia in 1291, then in 1294 to a "laurel wood" (lauretium) at Recanati and in 1295 to its present site in Loreto. In 1586 Pope Sixtus V gave the town a municipal charter and the right to build walls. Since 1920 the Madonna of Loreto has been the patroness of airmen.