‘Il Cammino di Sant’Ignazio’ from Loyola to Manresa

An Association of Municipalities of the Cammino Ignaziano is an initiative that unites more than sixty municipalities in the five regions travelled through this route: Catalonia, Aragon, Navarre, La Rioja and the Basque Country. The launching took place in the Monastery of Monserrat and the aim is to promote cultural and heritage tourism along the route, which connects Loyola, in Azpeitia, with Manresa.

As the project progresses, all 92 municipalities that make up il Cammino will join. The Cammino Ignaziano, inspired by the route taken by Saint Ignatius of Loyola from the Basque Country to Manresa in 1522, has established itself as a route of interest to pilgrims and tourists seeking an experience that combines spirituality, history and landscape, a route that allows for a pilgrimage experience that follows the spiritual process experienced by St. Ignatius of Loyola. After his spiritual conversion in Loyola, the knight decided to leave the life he had led as a member of a noble family and set out on a journey to Jerusalem, passing through Manresa. The route follows the Camí Real, which leads to Barcelona, the point from where St. Ignatius intended to embark for the Holy Land.

The initiative to re-create this route was taken by a group of lay people and Jesuits who wanted to recover the historical route that the founder of the Society of Jesus took in 1522, from Loyola to the “Cova (grotta) di Sant’Ignazio” in Manresa.

The journey begins at Ignatius’ birthplace, a medieval mansion in Azpeitia, in the Basque Country, and ends at the Sanctuary of Manresa, near the Monastery of Montserrat. This route is now a spiritual and cultural discovery that attracts pilgrims and tourists from all over the world.

In 2022, the Catalan production company Animaset produced the documentary El Camí Ignasià, directed by Jordi Roigé, to demonstrate the visual and spiritual beauty of this historic route.

The documentary followed the experiences of four pilgrims from different cultures and religions, led by the Jesuit Josep Lluís Iriberri, along the 650 kilometers between Azpeitia and Manresa. Through their experiences, the scenic, architectural, cultural and gastronomic riches of the regions travelled through this Camino were shown.

Translation by Josette Vassallo – the original article in Italian was published on acistampa.com