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The Cave. A place of pilgrimage and worship

International Center of Spirituality

Place of prayer and recollection for Saint Ignatius

Ignatius of Loyola came down on foot from Montserrat to Manresa. It was the year 1522. Here he spent eleven months, a time of pivotal importance for his life and for that which would later be the Company of Jesus. His privileged place of prayer was the Cave. It is a cavity over the river Cardener, excavated by the fluvial erosion during the Tertiary. The current Center of Spirituality stands around it. The experience lived here by Saint Ignatius was the origin of his book Spiritual Exercises.

This scene is expressed in an alabaster altarpiece by Joan Grau (17th Century), which is preserved in the little Cave and shows the figure of the Saint writing the Spiritual Exercises in Manresa.

Cave Lobby

The Coveta is accessed through a large corridor called Ante-Cave, designed by the Jesuit Martí Coronas (early 20th Century). There we will find a stained-glass window in a Venetian mosaic style that shows scrolls with phrases from the book ofSpiritual Exercises. Also, we will find some bronze reliefs that are the work of Flotats and, on top of them, mosaics with historical figures of people that went through the experience of the Exercises.

The ceiling is reminiscent of the Catalan Renaissance style. Here the artist Llimona symbolized, with two bronze angels, the prayer and penance that Saint Ignatius offered in this place. On the floor, all in mosaic, we can see the family shield of the Loyola family, a cannon that recalls the wound of the Saint, and a large sunflower symbolizing the heart of Ignatius opening Jesus.

Icon of the city of Manresa
For over 300 years, the building of the Cave of Saint Ignatius has experienced and continues to experience multiple transformations and adaptations. At the moment, its image, together with the Basilica of la Seu of Manresa, represents one of the icons of the city.

In the Cave of Saint Ignatius, landscape and architecture merge in a surprising way, forming an artificial façade on the mount of Sant Bartomeu, which is one of the most visible elements at the entrance to Manresa. Nowadays, the Cave has become an international center for Ignatian spirituality and welcomes visitors from all over the world who make sojourns of meditation, education and Spiritual Exercises.