San Ildefonso Church

Another church, another style. Welcome to the baroque Jesuit church of San Ildefonso. At the top, nestled in the niche between the two towers, you can spot a statue of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order. The Jesuits were among the most zealous defenders of the Counter-Reformation—the Catholic Church’s response to the rise of Protestantism. In terms of art and architecture, this period marked a turning point: the Catholic Church began to massively embrace the baroque style, using grandiosity to impress and reaffirm its power, in contrast to the austerity promoted by Protestant reformers. The church’s exterior is built entirely of brick, like most of Toledo’s early churches, but the interior is a striking contrast—coated in white stucco that highlights the vibrant colours of the central apse and side chapels. The church is dedicated to Saint Ildefonso of Toledo, the city’s patron saint and a former archbishop in the 7th century. It took nearly a hundred years to complete this impressive landmark. Unfortunately for the Jesuits, just two years after the church’s completion, King Carlos III expelled them from Spain in 1767, blaming them for orchestrating the Esquilache riots—a massive popular uprising against royal reforms that occurred the year before. The Jesuits didn’t reclaim their church until the 20th century. It was restored in the 1990s and is now recognized as a site of cultural interest.