Pilgrimage medal - S Maria Lavret, Roma ND

Reverse

Male angel (trumpets behind) on cloud left, robed female leaning on pillar right. He is gesticulating heavenwards to between two clouds. Lettering in exergue

Lettering: ROMA

Edge

Plain

Comment

A scarce original piece from Rome, ND but latter 17th - early 18th century (Ca. 1660 - 1720).
The obverse may be a bird’s-eye view of the Piazza della Madonna and the Basilica della Santa Casa.
Area: (Europe, Italy, The Marches, Ancona (province), Loreto, Church of the Virgin) or Lavoro.
"S Maria Lavret" = "Holy Mary of Loreto". Our Lady of Loreto is located in the Holy House in Loreto, Italy, along the Adriatic coast.

According to the 'Redemptoris Mundi Matris Ecclesiae Lauretana Historia', the home in which Mary had been born had received the Annunciation, and lived during the lifetime of Jesus was later converted into a church by the Apostles. Following the empress Helena’s pilgrimage to Nazareth in AD 336, a basilica was erected over the site where worship continued until the Crusades. In order to preserve it from the invading Turks, the house was carried by angels, first to Tersatto (Trsat, Croatia) in 1291, then across the Adriatic to the woods near Recanati, Italy in 1294, and finally to its present location in Loreto in 1295. A popular tourist destination, the site has been a well-known Catholic place of pilgrimage since the 14th century.