Loretto Chapel

Another church. And a bit of a tourist attraction, too. Apparently, it was modeled after San Chapelle in Paris, which it resembles in form, although it lacks the sheer power (and the amount of stained glass) of the original.

What it does have - as should any good Catholic attraction, is a miracle. Specifically, it has a miraculous staircase. Well, it has a very elegant wooden spiral staircase. With a great deal of mystery attached to it. The builder vanished after completing the work. The staircase cannot possibly stand by itself. Even the wood from which it is made is unknown.

Well-crafted mystery is the stuff from which miracles are made. I thought it was really neat, but somehow the fact that the wood was hard to identify and that the contractor ran off doesn't seem that unusual. And the spiral structure looks plausible to me - at least if built well.


What I thought was truly miraculous was that the original was built without a balustrade! That was added much later in the interest of safety. There was no mention of how many choir members were lost before that decision was made. But I admit, without the railing, it would look a lot more miraculous.