Javier's castle is located on a hill in the town of Javier, in Navarra. It dates from the 10th century.

San Francisco Javier, son of the Lords of Javier, was born and lived in this castle, and from here he took his surname.

The castle and the town of Javier were won by Sancho VII of Navarra around the year 1223. An Aragonese nobleman had given them as collateral for a loan of 9000 salaries that the Navarrese monarch granted him, but at the end of the term and he could in front of the payment, they happened to the property of Sancho.

It was not the first time, nor would it be the last, since Sancho VII was one of the great lenders of the Crown of Aragon, and thanks to the unpaid loans, he took over a series of villas and castles given as collateral that helped him to reinforce its borders with Aragon: Escó, Peña, Petilla, Gallur, Trasmoz, Sádaba, etc.

In 1236 the castle was handed over by King Tybalt I to Adam de Sada. After the conquest of Navarra, the castle and the town as a fiefdom belonged to María de Azpilcueta, a native of the Baztán Valley, married to Juan de Jaso, whose family defended the independence of the kingdom. For this reason, Cardinal Cisneros ordered the complete demolition of the castle in 1516, although only a topping of the strong part of it was carried out.

At the end of the 19th century, the castle was practically in ruins, and at the initiative of its owners, María del Carmen de Aragón-Azlor, Duchess of Villahermosa, and her husband José Manuel de Goyeneche, Count of Guaqui, the restoration works began. .

Already at the beginning of the 20th century, the Duchess of Villahermosa donated the castle and the basilica to the Society of Jesus on the condition that she keep it as she was given it.