After the Mass at the Basilica and the tour of the Loyola Tower House, my travel amigas and I explored the sanctuary grounds. Within the compound also lie a retreat house, a library, a hostel, a museum, a small café, and a park. The Loyola Spirituality Center, also known as Arrupe Center, has served as the formation house for the Society of Jesus for decades since 1972. It also functions as a retreat centre and adjacent to it is a guest house. The building contains accommodat

We headed to the Tower House of the Loyola Family, and the birthplace and home of Saint Ignatius (now known as The Holy House). The structure dates back to the 14th century, with the lower floor built in stone, which recalls its past as a fortress, and the upper half in brick, that indicates its evolution into a palatial house. At the entrance, we were greeted by a bronze statue depicting the arrival from the battlefields of the wounded Iñigo (Saint Ignatius’ baptismal name d

We soon reached our destination in Spain's Basque Country - the emblematic Sanctuary of Loyola in the idyllic town of Azpeitia. It lies within the Urola Valley and along the scenic Urola River. The sanctuary was established as a major place of worship by the Jesuits because it is where their founder, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was born. The religious complex consists of the tower house of the Loyola family, which was the birthplace of Saint Ignatius, along with the grand Basil

We were up early that morning to drive to the Basque Country. Though called "country," it's not an independent territory. Rather, it straddles two different countries - the northwest of Spain and the southwest of France. The Northern Basque Country lies within France, thus its other name, French Basque Country. It consists of the provinces of Labourd, Lower Navarre (where Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, the most common starting point of the pilgrims' Camino de Santiago journey, is l