IGNACIAN FIREPLACE

The Ignacian Way was born on the initiative of the Society of Jesus with the intention of recovering and re-proposing the journey made by Ignatius of Loyola in 1522 from his hometown, Loyola, to the city of Manresa in Catalonia.

The Way starts from the house of Ignatius of Loyola, a tower-palace in Azpeitia, in the Basque Country where he was born in 1491.

Along the route you will come across beautiful cities such as Zaragoza.

Overall, 647 km are covered, divided into 27 stages. The journey ends in Manresa (near the Montserrat Monastery) in Catalonia.

The Way re-proposes the journey made by Ignacio after his spiritual conversion which made him leave a comfortable life to follow the call of Jesus Christ.

The Way he followed after Navarrete coincides with the Camino Real which corresponds to what is now known as the "Camino de Santiago" which passes through Catalonia, Aragon, Navarre and La Rioja. We don't know how many pilgrims heading to Santiago Ignacio met, but certainly during his journey he must have perceived more than once that he was going in the opposite direction to those who were heading to Santiago de Compostela. Being against the tide was a very typical characteristic of Ignacio.

His wish was to go to Jerusalem in the Holy Land, as he did, departing by sea from Barcelona. He died in Rome in 1556 and was canonized on March 12, 1622. On July 23, 1637, his body was placed in a gilded bronze urn in the Chapel of Sant'Ignazio of the Church of the Gesu in Rome.