Loreto

Town in the Marche region of central Italy, 25 km/15 mi south of Ancona; population (1990) 10,700. The town is a place of pilgrimage because the Virgin Mary's house, the ‘Santa Casa’ was allegedly carried there by angels from Nazareth; hence Our Lady of Loreto is the patron saint of aviators.

A church, begun in the 15th century, has been built around the shrine; it contains the work of Bramante, Sansovino, Signorelli, Guiliano Sangallo, and Antonio Sangallo the Younger.

The name ‘Loreto nuns’ is given in Ireland to sisters of the Institute of Mary, a community devoted to the education of girls, founded by Mary Ward in Dublin in 1609.

Loreto

Department in northeast Peru, the largest in the country; area 368,852 sq km/142,414 sq mi; population (1996) 798,646. The capital is Iquitos. Loreto is situated in the Amazon Basin, and the area is densely covered with jungle, making transport impossible except by river and air. The area is watered by the Marañon, Ucayali, Napo, and Amazon rivers. Tropical products from this region include natural rubber, jute, fruit, nuts, tobacco, hardwood, and animal skins. Oil exploration in Peruvian Amazonia began in the early 1970s, when a pipeline was constructed to the coast; prospecting for oil continues to expand, especially around Iquitos. Apart from Iquitos, there are important river ports at Pucallpa, on the Ucayali, and Yurimaguas, on the Huallaga. Many indigenous rainforest peoples have their home within the bounds of this department.