The large curved portico is presided by the coat of arms of the Bourbons, since Loyola held the title of Royal College founded by Doña Mariana de Austria, but the portico was built after the house of Austria had been replaced by that of Bourbon.

Inside the portico there are the statues of St Ignatius, St Francis Xavier, St Francis Borgia, St Aloysius Gonzaga and St Stanislaus Kostka. All five were designed between 1734 and 1738 by Gaetano Pace, an Italian sculptor, but he could only complete that of St Ignatius because he died in 1738 when he was halfway with the one of St Francis Borgia. The others were made, on Pace’s designs, by Miguel de Mazo between 1738 and 1739. The outer doors of the church are of cedar from Lebanon and the inner ones of mahogany brought from Havana in 1739. The main door is flanked by two solomonic doors crowned by a curved broken pediment .

Interior of the Basilica. In the interior, one is surprised at once by the baroque exuberance of its churrigueresque ornamentation, all in carved marble, with an abundance of gildings. The church has an inside diameter of 33 meters. The entire flooring is of gray and rose-colored marble slabs forming a splendid concentric mosaic. VR1

Eight trumpet-shaped arches (four large and another four smaller) separate the central space from the annular nave. These arches and the sturdy pillars on which they rest are of black polished marble. VR2

. Over the keystones of the four larger arches there are the four letters of St Ignatius’s motto, AMDG, Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam, to God’s Greater Glory. Over the smaller ones, the four syllables VI VA JE SUS. The entire lower body of the church tops with a wide cornice, and on it a balcony with a balustrade of wrought iron goes all round the circle.

The frieze of this balcony, adorned with military symbols, set against each other the effigies of Iñigo as a soldier and Ignatius as founder. VR3