Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), the "Soldier of God", founded the Company of Jesus in the mid-16C. Near Azpeitia, by the old manor belonging to the family of Saint Ignatius, the Jesuits built a sanctuary in the late 17C and this was to become an important place of pilgrimage. The house where he was born, a relatively modest medieval manor house, is preserved as a relic in the centre of the vast Baroque complex it is part of.