The dedication of this shrine, dedicated to the Madonna, refers to the town of Loreto. This is one of the major and most important Marian pilgrimage sites in Europe, along with Lourdes in the French Pyrenees and Fatima in Portugal. Unlike the other two, however, Loreto is not known for apparitions of the Virgin Mary. There, pilgrims can see something very tangible: the house where Mary grew up in Nazareth (Israel). Her parents—not mentioned by name in the biblical writings of the New Testament—are named in apocryphal traditions: Saint Anne and Saint Joachim are thus the grandparents of Jesus Christ (their feast day in the liturgical calendar is July 26).
It is likely that Crusaders, as the era of the Christian kingdoms in the Holy Land came to an end towards the end of the 13th century, dismantled the venerated building in Nazareth and transported it to Europe. However, this very sober assumption is contrasted by a much more interesting legend: According to this legend, four angels carried out the translation and flew the house across the Mediterranean.