White. Chapel Under the Linden, Thorn, Limburg, The Netherlands
A sad memorial yesterday drew me to the tiny city of Thorn, Limburg, The Netherlands. Thorn - known affectionately as 'the white city' on account of its white-washed buildings - was for many centuries, until its French resolution in 1794, the smallest principality of the German Holy Roman Empire. It was reigned by secular canonnesses, daughters of the Empire's highest nobility. They were styled princesses and the abbey was richly endowed. This chapel on the outskirts of the town proper was founded by Princess Clara Elisabeth von Manderscheid-Blankenheim (1631-1689). The princess spent most of her life ill in bed subsisting on only milk. It seems she was partially cured in 1681, it is said, by her devotion to Our Lady of Loreto. The chapel was built in 1673 and its interior is highly decorated in the baroque. A favorite site for pilgrimage it's also used for weddings and memorials.
White. Chapel Under the Linden, Thorn, Limburg, The Netherlands
A sad memorial yesterday drew me to the tiny city of Thorn, Limburg, The Netherlands. Thorn - known affectionately as 'the white city' on account of its white-washed buildings - was for many centuries, until its French resolution in 1794, the smallest principality of the German Holy Roman Empire. It was reigned by secular canonnesses, daughters of the Empire's highest nobility. They were styled princesses and the abbey was richly endowed. This chapel on the outskirts of the town proper was founded by Princess Clara Elisabeth von Manderscheid-Blankenheim (1631-1689). The princess spent most of her life ill in bed subsisting on only milk. It seems she was partially cured in 1681, it is said, by her devotion to Our Lady of Loreto. The chapel was built in 1673 and its interior is highly decorated in the baroque. A favorite site for pilgrimage it's also used for weddings and memorials.