Jesuit College Loyola
The Jesuit College Loyola is a monumental complex that was built around the birthplace of Ignatius von Loyola , the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).
Geographical location
The Jesuit College Loyola is located in the district of Loyola (Loiola) of the municipality of Azpeitia , in the Basque Country in Spain . It is right on the banks of the Urola . The main axis of the complex is laid out in a south-west-north-east direction, which is due to the consideration of the older residential tower. The complex occupies an area of 4 hectares. Limestone from the neighboring rock massif of the Izarraitz was primarily used as a building material. The choir of the church is oriented to the southwest.
history
The facility is so large that - with numerous interruptions - it was built for around 200 years. The baroque style was retained throughout. This can be seen in numerous equipment details. Under the House of Habsburg started, it was only under the Bourbons been completed. This is indicated by the Bourbon coat of arms above the main portal.
Germ cell: the birthplace
Ignatius von Loyola (actually: Iñigo López de Loyola) came from the low-nobility family of the Lords of Loyola. The family owned a fortified medieval tower block in Loyola, which had already been rebuilt several times and was redesigned several times even after the college was established. Iñigo was born here in 1491. Ignatius was beatified on July 27, 1609 by Pope Paul V and on May 22, 1622 by Pope Gregory XV. canonized. His place of birth became a place of worship, the house where he was born and the residential tower of the von Loyola family became a relic itself .
Building history
Queen mother Maria Anna of Austria , widow of King Philip IV of Spain and mother of the reigning King Charles II , took on the project in 1681 with the support of her son. Since the residential tower and the surrounding area were a fiefdom of the Spanish crown, the Queen Mother was able to procure the building land without any major problems. The then owner, the Marquês of Alcanices and Oropesa, received other compensation. The deed of foundation for the college was signed on May 24, 1682 in El Buen Retiro and in the same year a group of Jesuits moved into the residential tower and founded the college.
Carlo Fontana produced the architectural design . He insisted on keeping the residential tower, which is roughly square in floor plan, and building it with the new building. This is done by the front part of the southern wing of the college building, which completely surrounds the historic tower and largely maintains a distance of around 2 m from it.
The first preparatory work began in 1688, the official laying of the foundation stone took place on March 28, 1689. The Flemish Jesuit Bogran was the first construction manager . In 1693 construction management switched to Martín de Zaldúa . Construction work began with the church and the southern wing of the convent building, which also encloses the medieval residential tower. The south wing could be moved into in 1708. Some points were deviated from Carlo Fontana's plan. When planning, he had obviously not had the local climatic conditions in mind, so that some of the open galleries that he had designed had to be glazed during construction. The War of the Spanish Succession forced the work to stop for 13 years and when it started again in 1717, it was taken over by Sebastián de Lecuna from 1719 . The problem of making the church dome statically stable was complicated. The builder of Salamanca Cathedral , Joaquín de Churriguera , was brought in to do this in 1720. Lecuna died without being able to finish work. Ignacio de Íbero , a local builder from Azpeitia, continued and finished it from 1733. Numerous structural details of a decorative and representative nature originate from him, which were not included in Carlo Fontana's strict design. The church was consecrated in 1738.
When the Jesuits were expelled from Spain in 1767, the church was still not finished. Four scheduled for side altars exedrae were empty and were provided only in the 19th century with altars, after the Jesuits were allowed to return in 1814 and the plant was handed back to them. In 1835, as part of the desamortización , all Jesuit monasteries in Spain were secularized , including the Loyola convent. The plant has belonged to the Province of Gipuzkoa , which also bears the construction load . Only the birth house of Ignatius von Loyola was given back to the order .
In 1888 the church was finally completed and consecrated . It was founded in 1921 by Pope Benedict XV. raised to the minor basilica .
Structure of the building complex
The central complex is divided around the church and three courtyards. In its center is the church, which is flanked in the north and south by a 50 m long wing. Each of the building wings is in turn a four-wing complex, with a courtyard in the middle. The third courtyard is framed by the two wings, a connecting part of the building and the west side of the church.
church
Outside
With a large three-arched portico, its large dome and a monumental staircase in front of it, the church dominates the appearance on the front side, which opens onto a large square and a park behind it.
Under the roof in the portico are the statues of Ignatius von Loyola, Francisco Javier , Francisco de Borja , Luis Gonzaga and Stanislaus Kostka . The statues were created by the Italian sculptor Gaetano Pace (Cayetano Pace) and completed by Miguel de Mazo after his death in 1738 . The two pillars that flank the main entrance quote the Jachin and Boaz pillars of the first temple in Jerusalem . They are typical accessories of the churriguerism that floods the church inside: marble, gilding and a horror vacui dominate.
inner space
building
The floor plan is based on a circle with a diameter of 33.50 m. A mosaic covers the floor. Eight arches of two different sizes separate an outer ring, leaving a central space of 20 m in diameter. The arches are made of black marble, the capitals of the pillars are taken from the Corinthian order . The keystones of the arches are decorated with cartouches showing the following letters and syllables: in the largest the initials of the motto of Ignatio von Loyola: AMDG and in the smaller the syllables VI , VA , JE and SUS .
The surrounding main cornice forms a balcony with a wrought iron railing. In its background there is a frieze with military themes and the two lives of Ignatio, at the entrance that of the young soldier, opposite at the altar that of the founder of the Jesuits. The individual scenes are interrupted and structured by the plinths of the pilasters rising into the dome. Here are allegorical representations of the eight virtues that Gaetano Pace made from stucco between 1734 and 1738 based on a design by Juan de Lane from 1732.
The drum on which the dome rests has eight large windows. The walls between the windows are richly decorated, as are the pilasters that separate the fields and on which the dome rests. The dome has a diameter of 20 m and a top height of 50 m. Including the lantern on top, the total height from the ground is as much as 65 m. The dome is double-skinned. There is an outer dome made of limestone and an inner one made of sandstone, which was much softer and easier to work with. There is a distance of half a meter between the two. Carlo Fontana had originally planned to build a wreath of chapels around the dome , in addition to the ring-shaped nave , the separating, thick walls of which should absorb the thrust of the large dome. When Martín de Zaldúa decided not to build these walls between the chapels in order to put a circular nave around the dome, that gave the church more size. Under Sebastian de Lecuona the arches were erected that connect the dome with the ring-shaped nave and support the tambour with its two and a half meter thick walls on which the large dome rests. The statics of the dome, however, have been weakened by the new construction. As soon as the lantern was placed on the dome, the dome did not prove to be stable and had to be reinforced by two iron bands at the base. The final cross was placed on the lantern on October 25, 1735. The inside of the dome is adorned with eight royal coats of arms.
In 1992 the statics were at risk, the cracks in the dome were visible from the nave, which forced structural intervention. The dome was braced and stabilized with a complex network of steel cables, after which the interior of the church was restored.
Furnishing
- The high altar is based on a design by Ignacio Íbero and was built between 1740 and 1757 in the Churrigueresque style. Two pairs of “ Solomonic columns ” flank the altar. The decoration of the predella , also made of marble, contains military symbolism and allusions to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The tabernacle and a silver statue of Saint Ignatius are also located here. The statue was donated to the Real Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas in fulfillment of a vow , designed in 1741 by the Valencian Francisco de Vergara in Rome and made in silver by the German silversmith Joseph Bauer . The figure was placed on the altar in 1758. The altar is completed with pictures of Saint Joseph and Saint Joachim . In order to adapt the main altar to the liturgical norms of the Second Vatican Council , the basilica was equipped with another altar, which is located in front of the main altar.
- There are six other altars that are dedicated
- San Francisco Javier
- of the Virgin Mary (Patroness) by Luis Salvador Carmona
- the heart of Jesus
- San Francisco de Borja
- San Pedro Claver
- San Alonso Rodríguez
- The organ comes from Aristide Cavaillé-Coll and was installed in 1889. It has 2172 pipes.
- Bells:
- The San Luis Gonzaga bell , cast in 1738, the year the church was consecrated.
- The San Francisco Javier bell , also: "big bell" has a diameter of 113 cm and is labeled: ET VERBUM CARO FACTUM EST. It was cast in 1760 and strikes the hour.
- Another nine bells
Convent building
The convent building is placed around the church on three sides with the two side wings and the rear wing. The following are to be emphasized here:
Stairwells
A modification of Carlo Fontana's original project was the construction of two monumental staircases that vertically connect the floors of the individual wings. Martín de Zaldúa occupied two of Fontana’s interior courtyards with these large-format staircases, the upper part of which is decorated with statues. In the south wing they represent the first saints of the Jesuits, in the north wing they depict popes who had a special relationship with the Jesuits. This change in concept was highly controversial, work on it was interrupted, but the stairs were finally completed.
Refectory with anteroom
The vestibule to the refectory is white with marble of the same color. Here is an octagonal marble fountain under the vaults supported by black marble columns.
In the refectory there is a large representation of the Lord's Supper that covers an entire wall. The painting was painted in Rome in 1758 by Philadelphius Larganus Siculus . The rest of the decoration relates to the Jesuits, including portraits of former Jesuit cardinals .
Library
The library of the convent consists of three areas: the first deals with the Oñaz and Loyola families , the second with the Jesuits in Spain and the third is the Nemesio Otaño Music Library . The library has 150,000 books, around 30,000 of which date from the 15th century to the 19th century, including incunabula . There are around 10,000 books in Basque in the holdings . The older holdings are digitized and accessible on the Internet.
The Nemesio Otaño Music Library is based on the collection of Nemesio Otaño (1880–1956), a respected composer and musicologist who was a member of the Jesuits. It has a collection of more than 120,000 books and scores .
museum
In the north wing of the complex there is a small museum, which consists of two rooms, in which liturgical objects are located and parts of the furnishings of the house chapel of the residential tower are on display.
Spiritual center
The Spirituality Center is housed in a 17th and 18th century building that was renovated between 1972 and 2002. It is connected to the main building via an elevated passage. There are rooms for workshops, exercises, courses, congresses and meetings. The center has 111 rooms with 153 beds, six chapels, fifteen meeting and conference rooms of various capacities and four dining rooms.
The Loyola Convention also has two accommodation options for guests who want to take part in meditations: a hostel for young people and a hotel for adult visitors. The guest house is called Centro Arrupe , dates back to the 18th century, was renovated and re-opened in 2001. It has 63 beds in 43 rooms. The hotel forms the southern end of the forecourt. There has been a hotel here since 1690. The hotel was rebuilt at the beginning of the 18th century, expanded in 1888 and used for spiritual exercises. After the opening of the Spirituality Center, the building has been used as a hotel again since 1999.
Worth knowing
The Jesuits have been running a radio station from the Loyola convent since 1961. The languages used are Spanish and Basque, the latter accounting for around a third of the program.
literature
- Juan Plazaola Artola: The Sanctuary of Loyola . 2nd edition, Barcelona 2000, ISBN 84-604-6208-0 .
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam (for the greater glory of God).
- ↑ Viva Jesus.
- ↑ The eight virtues are: faith, love, hope, religion, moderation, justice, prudence and strength.
- ↑ Also: Giuseppe Agricola. He used the “GA” silversmith's mark.
- ^ Before 1767 (Artola, p. 44).
- ^ Before 1767 (Artola, p. 44).
- ↑ Shortly after 1814 (Artola, p. 44).
- ↑ Shortly after 1814 (Artola, p. 44).
- ↑ Shortly before 1888 (Artola, p. 44f).
- ↑ Shortly before 1888 (Artola, p. 44).
- ↑ The frequency for Radio Loyola is 98.4 MHz.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Artola, p. 23ff.
- ↑ Artola, p. 35.
- ↑ Artola, p. 36.
- ↑ Artola, p. 36.
- ↑ Artola, p. 37.
- ↑ Artola, pp. 39, 47.
- ↑ Artola, p. 44.
- ↑ Artola, p. 47.
- ↑ Artola, p. 49.
- ↑ Artola, p. 39.
- ↑ Artola, p. 37f.
- ↑ Artola, pp. 39, 42.
- ↑ Artola, p. 39.
- ↑ Artola, p. 39.
- ↑ Artola, p. 42.
- ↑ Artola, p. 44.
- ↑ See here .
Coordinates: 43 ° 10 ′ 27.7 " N , 2 ° 16 ′ 57.2" W.