Sanctuary Maria SS. of Loreto in Acireale
Sanctuary of Loreto is a small sanctuary located on the outskirts of the city of Acireale.
It has a lava stone portal that leads into a path at the end of which there is the construction of a small church that reproduces the measurements of the house in Nazareth. A circular opening, placed above the architrave, opens onto the austere facade that re-proposes the simplicity in which the Holy Family lived.
The foundation of the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Loreto dates back to the second half of the 16th century, when Giovanni Maccarrone, a tertiary of the order of Santa Maria di Gesù, wishing to live in prayer and solitude, retired to a small plot of land located on a hill that from the north it slopes towards the city. Within this garden, the friar built a small chapel to be dedicated to the Madonna of Loreto.
The primitive chapel was later enlarged and equipped with the same measures as the holy house of Nazareth which, according to tradition, in 1294 was miraculously transported by the angels to Loreto.
Around 1630 an extraordinary event occurred which increased the devotion to the Madonna of Loreto: it is said that master Alessandro, finding himself on the verge of death, by invoking the Madonna of Loreto obtained healing. The news spread rapidly, bringing pilgrims from all over Sicily.
Even today the sanctuary is the destination of many pilgrims.
