The Cave of Saint Ignatius is a sanctuary declared as a Local Cultural Heritage that includes a baroque church and a neoclassical building in Manresa (Catalonia), which was created to honor the place where, according to tradition, Saint Ignatius of Loyola shut himself in a cave to pray and do penance during his sojourn in the city from March 1522 to February 1523, where he wrote the Spiritual Exercises[1] returning from his pilgrimage to Montserrat.
In the Cave there is an alabaster altarpiece (second half of the 17th century) that represents Saint Ignatius as penitent, with a pen in his hands and his look towards Montserrat.
[1] Before entering the Cave there is a vestibule, consisting in a spacious aisle designed by Martí Coronas, a Jesuit Brother, at the beginning of the 20th century.
On the floor can be seen the Loyola house coat of arms, a cannon in remembrance of the Saint’s wound and a big sunflower a symbol of Ignatius’ heart open to Jesus.
The exuberant baroque façades contrasts with the simplicity of the decorative lines and well proportioned sizes of interior space, and the remarkable unity of style.