The Rumburk Loreto Chapel is a jewel of northern Bohemia Baroque architecture, associated with the name of the outstanding architect Johann Lucas Hildebrandt and sculptor Franz Biener. This cultural monument is open year-round and offers families with children non-traditional tours, exhibitions and concerts. The Holy Mass, the Stations of the Cross and the Holy Stairs worships are held in the three hundred-year-old Marian sanctuary. The construction of the Loreto was a fulfilled wish of nobleman Anton Florian, Prince of Liechtenstein, to transfer the sacred place from Italy to the north of Bohemia.

The gradually restored area includes the Loreto Chapel, the cloister and the St. Lawrence Church. This is a textbook example of architecture under the open sky with traces of art of the 17th and 18th centuries. It is a quiet island of tranquillity, where time passes according to its own rules. Until 1950 the Loreto was a part of the Capuchin Monastery of St. Lawrence; nowadays it is administered by the Roman Catholic Parish – Rumburk deanery. Visitors can choose whether to take a tour, to have an adventure or spend their time in serenity in the Rumburk Loreto.

In the early 18th century the newly built Loreto Chapel was passed into the care of the Capuchins. It was built in the years 1704-1707 on the initiative of Anton Florian, Prince of Liechtenstein according to plans of architect Johann Lucas Hildebrandt of Vienna. The following court architect of Rumburk determined a lot for construction of the Loreto Chapel. In 1707 he also designed a large-scale unimplemented project of buildings enclosing the Holy Hut in the shape of an oval with 14 chapels, a pompous building of a dormitory for choirboys and a choir chapel.

The Rumburk Loreto Chapel, with its stucco and sculptural decorations, belongs among the most valuable Loreto chapels in the Czech Republic. The sculptures of Sibyl and prophets are the work of the court sculptor Franz Biener of Liechtenstein (1682-1742), who was also the author of the statues on the balustrade at the entrance to the Loreto. Another object of reverence and pilgrimage, besides the Holy Hut, is the statue of the Black Madonna of Loreto (1694).

In the years 1743-1755 a cloister was built around the Marian sanctuary chapel in Rumburk, and eventually the Holy Stairs were added (1767-1770). They are the most valuable part of the Loreto cloister in Rumburk and have not undergone reconstruction since their foundation. The ceiling and the walls decorated with rich painted ornaments are one of their specific features. The numerous collection of polychrome wooden sculptures from the 18th century is the only one of its kind. It fascinatingly supplements the story of Jesus’ condemnation, suffering and crucifixion that the Holy Stairs represent.

Opening hours

• November – April
  • Saturdays 9 am – 4:30 pm

• May – October
  • Tuesday – Saturday 9 am – 4:30 pm

Last admission is 30 min. before closing time. Arrange group tours by email at loreta.rumburk@seznam.cz or call +420 604 555 922.

Admission

(Combined entry for the Loreto and the Rumburk Museum is given in parentheses.)

• Adults: 80 CZK (120 CZK)
• Reduced admission (seniors, students, disabled persons): 40 CZK (60 CZK)
• Children 7-15: 40 CZK (60 CZK)
• Children under 6: Free of charge

Fee for guide services in foreign language: 20 CZK per adult

Fee for photography: 10 CZK. Photos allowed for private use only.

Guidebooks available: Czech, German, English, French, Polish, Russian, and Spanish.

Income from admissions fees is used for operations and maintenance of this cultural landmark.

The Holy Mass

Loreto Chapel – every last Tuesday of the month from 3 PM

The Holy Pilgrimage Mass

Portiuncula indulgence ceremony – the first Saturday in August
Pilgrimage to St. Lawrence – the second Saturday in August
Loreto Chapel consecration anniversary celebration – the second Saturday in September

Contact

Since 2014 the Rumburk Loreto Chapel has been one of the Via Sacra international pilgrimage trail stops. It combines remarkable monuments and artworks on the German-Polish-Czech border triangle – the area of Upper Lusatia, Lower Silesia and Northern Bohemia. It also comprised remarkable European churches, monasteries and other places of worship with their unique artistic decorations.

Leaflet “Loreto Chapel and Cloister in Rumburk”