Birthplace of Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Loiola, Spain, Spain

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The birthplace of Saint Ignatius of Loyola is a 14th-15th century fortified tower house of the noble Loyola family in Loiola (Azpeitia), Basque Country, Spain, where Íñigo López de Loyola was born in 1491 as the youngest of 13 children.

After injury in the 1521 Battle of Pamplona, he returned there for convalescence, experiencing a profound spiritual conversion in his preserved room—now the Chapel of the Conversion—that inspired his founding of the Jesuits.

 Surrounded by a 17th-18th century Churrigueresque Basilica and Sanctuary complex commissioned by Spain's Queen Mother Mariana of Austria, the medieval stone-and-brick structure symbolizes his shift from soldier to saint amid the green Urola Valley.