Building, oriented on the hilltop. Rectangular nave and a wide trilobate presbytery. The gabled façade features a superimposed bell gable with a bifora window, preceded by a deep atrium with two entrances, West and South, through a full-arched opening; a rectangular chapel added on the southern side. The sacristy to the north is attached to the presbytery. A molded stone portal flanked by two rectangular windows. Inside, two opposing thermal windows; on the southern wall, the recess of a blocked door and the exposed stone arch of the chapel, illuminated by two small thermal windows and a partially blocked bifora. The presbytery, raised by one step, opens with a visible stone holy arch; vaulted with segments resting on stone corbels; lit by a bifora to the south and an oculus aligned with the altar. The sacristy is accessed through a door on the northern side of the presbytery. On the counter-façade, the wall partition corresponding to the base of the bell gable protrudes. Venetian terrazzo flooring with a checkerboard-patterned aisle.
The building, with a 17th-century layout, features a rectangular nave and a square presbytery with a coffered ceiling; a visible stone bell gable at the peak of the façade; a pavilion-style atrium with an arched opening on each side; roof covered with locally produced tiles. [Marchetti p. 44]. A side chapel was added during the second half of the 18th century.
**Description:**
Madonna (oil on canvas) by a local painter from the first half of the 17th century, adorned and dressed in the typical iconography of the Virgin of Loreto, with humble, tattered garments. She is surrounded by angels and wears the Triregnum on her head.
**In use between:** 1650 and 1650
**Epiphany:** Madonna of Loreto with Child.
**Image:** Painting
**Original location in the sanctuary:** Along the interior walls of the church.
**Notes on the collection:** Four painted tablets remain, dating from the second half of the 18th century to 1838.
**Types of ex-votos:** Painted tablets, real or represented prostheses.
**Current preservation:** For security reasons, the current location is omitted.
**References to publications or printed descriptions:** Moro 1994 (figs. 2-3, 5-6), previously reproduced (without commentary) by Pellis 1980. Sgubin 1994 reproduced and described three of the ex-votos in color (entries 42, 64, and 65).
**XVI (pre-existing elements of the entire property)**
A chapel likely existed as early as the 16th century, dedicated to St. Ignatius of Loyola. In 1664, the community of Muina obtained permission from the patriarch to erect a chapel on the site where, 14 years later, the sanctuary was built. Thus, the chronological extremes of 1664–1678 are considered the beginning of the sanctuary’s life cycle.
The sanctuary stands on *Cuel di Cjars*, a Celtic-origin toponym (*kar*) denoting rock. Indeed, it is located near the Degano stream on a rocky ridge. A chapel likely existed on the same site even before 1664, when Giacomo Micoli and other residents of Muina obtained permission to build a small chapel. Only by 1678 were the resources gathered for the church’s construction, which was certainly completed by 1687. The earthquake of July 28, 1700, severely affected all of Carnia, particularly the districts of Gorto and Socchieve. Likely, the least damaged religious buildings were the recently constructed ones, such as the Madonna di Loreto, to which the inhabitants under the Pieve of Gorto vowed to make an annual procession.
The sanctuary’s care was overseen by the appointed chaplain of Muina. Previously, the cooperators and chaplains of the Pieve of Gorto would have been involved in its maintenance. With the establishment of the Vicariate and Parish, the sanctuary was entrusted first to the vicar and later to the parish priest of Muina.
The appointment of the rector, as well as any chaplain for the Madonna di Loreto, at least until the late 19th century, was decided within the assembly of the heads of households of the Municipality of Muina.
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