Church of Santa Maria di Loreto (Rome)

 Roman Catholic church  Add category

a church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. It is also known as Santa Maria di Loreto al Foro Traiano. An earlier church on the site was given to the Confraternita dei Fornari, the Guild of Bakers, in 1500 by Pope Alexander VI. It was very small, and they had it demolished a few years later to use the site for a bigger church. Construction of the Renaissance church started in 1507, led by Antonio da Sangallo the younger, and was finished by Jacopo del Duca.
The dome is crowned by an unusual lantern, known as the 'cricket's cage', designed by Giacomo del Duca in 1582.
The interior has an octagonal floorplan within the square building, with semicircular chapels in the oblique sides and a deep sanctuary.
The dome has frescoes by Cesare Mariani.

It is served by diocesan clergy.