Church of St. Ignatius
About the place
Church of St. Ignatius is a Jesuit church in Dubrovnik. The first plans for the construction of the entire Jesuit complex with the church were drawn up by the then rector of the college, Giovanni Battista Canauli. The plan included the demolition of ecclesiastical and private buildings in order for the church to stand on a dominant site and was only approved in 1656, after Canuli was impeached. Superior Orsat Ranjina started purchasing land and buildings two years later. The construction of the complex began in 1662, and the church itself only after It was created over more than a hundred years. It was built as a baroque one-nave church with a representative facade, modeled on the church of St. Ignatius in Rome. It was designed by architect Andrea Pozzo, and construction was completed in 1725. Illusionistic baroque frescoes in the interior, with scenes from the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola, executed by the painter Gaetano Garcia. In 1885, an artificial cave dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, one of the oldest in Europe, was installed in the church.
Good to know
The church is located on the square called Poljana Ruđer Boškovića. The square is accessed by a monumental staircase from 1738, the work of Pietro Passalacqua, modeled on the staircase of the Piazza di Spagna in Rome.