Largest Our Lady of Loreto statues in the world to be unveiled in Croatia

t the beginning of this May a shrine with a 17 metres high statue of Our Lady of Loreto will be opened on the hill Gaj above the city of Primosten in the Sibenik-Knin County.

The statue of Primosten’s patron saint was designed by an architect Aron Varga and a mosaic artist Milun Garcevic. It is coated in a mosaic pattern made of gold, silver and stained glass. The statue consists of seven main parts, and one more additional part – Our Lady’s crown. It will be the largest statue of this type in the world.

Furthermore, the first part of the statue or a ring begins with abstraction; the second one is the symbolic representation of the tree of life with the monograph AM (Ave Maria). The third ring in mosaic presents two hearts, whilst the main motif on the fourth ring is the birth of Jesus. Irregular geometric shapes adorn the fifth ring of the large statue, whilst the sixth part consists of the mystic rose as a symbol of Virgin Mary, and olives. Our Lady’s head and Jesus make the seventh ring, whilst the eight part of the statue is old Croatian crown studded with precious stones. The base of the statue is actually an empty space from which four biblical rivers will ‘flow’.

It is interesting to note that in nice weather and thanks to the reflection of numerous mosaic patterns, the statue of Our Lady will be visible all the way from the other side of the Adriatic, from a popular Catholic pilgrimage site Loreto in Italy.