Sanctuary of Loyola

The Sanctuary of Loyola consists of a series of edifices built in Churrigueresque Baroque style around the birthplace of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus.

Ignatius of Loyola, whose real name was Iñigo López de Loyola, was the son of the Lord of Loyola, Beltrán Ibáñez de Oñaz and Marina Sánchez de Licona, member of an important Biscayan family. He was born in 1491 in his family house in Loyola.

After he died his birthplace became a place of veneration. In the seventeenth century the house where he was born was given to the Society of Jesus. The Order built there, near the birthplace of its founder, the Sanctuary of Loyola.

In 1900 the Society commissioned an altar for the sanctuary, employing metalwork artist Plácido Zuloaga, who had won international success creating intricate artworks by damascening, a technique which inlays gold and silver into iron. Zuloaga's iron structure houses panels depicting the life of St. Ignatius, and supports a damascened crucifix and candlesticks from the workshop of José Felipe Artamendi.

References:

• Wikipedia

Address

Loiola Auzoa 16W, Azpeitia, Spain

Details

Founded: 1889
Category: Religious sites in Spain