La Seu d'Urgell Cathedral, otherwise Urgel Cathedral of the Cathedral of Santa Maria d'Urgell, is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in the city of

la Seu d'Urgell La Seu d'Urgell (; es, Seo de Urgel, formerly in ca, Urgell}) is a town located in the Catalan Pyrenees in Spain. La Seu d'Urgell is also the capital of the comarca Alt Urgell, head of the judicial district of la Seu d'Urgell and the seat of ...

( Alt Urgell) in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

. It is the seat of the Bishops of Urgell, who are also Co-Princes of Andorra. The cathedral is considered unique within Catalan

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

for the Italianate-style features on the ornaments of its west front. The construction of the cathedral was begun in 1116 to designs by the

master mason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

Ramon Llambard and is therefore one of the oldest cathedrals in Catalonia. It is the source of the name of the city: originally referred to as the City of Urgell, it is now called "See of Urgell" (''La Seu d'Urgell''), derived from the Latin ''Sedes Urgelli'', meaning that the town is the episcopal seat. The cathedral is dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, patroness of the city, and has a 13th-century statue known as the Mother of God of Urgell (''Mare de Déu d'Urgell'') and also as the Virgin of

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

. The cathedral has had several restorations in the 20th century. The first was initiated by

Josep Puig i Cadafalch Josep Puig i Cadafalch (; Mataró, 17 October 1867 – Barcelona, 21 December 1956) was a Catalan '' Modernista'' architect who designed many significant buildings in Barcelona, and a politician who had a significant role in the development of ...

in 1918. Between 1955 and 1974 the church was restored again. During these works, the unfinished parts of the cathedral were covered with stone. In addition, some of the added parts were removed to recover the external aspect of the original cathedral. Part of the façade was recovered and the interior was reformed, which had been somewhat disfigured by the plaster cover applied to it in the 18th century. The 16th-century composer Joan Brudieu was ''maestro di capilla'' of the cathedral from 1548 to 1591.

*DDAA. Universidad de Oviedo. ''Arte e Identidades Culturales: Actas del XII congreso nacional del comité español de Historia del Arte'' (in Spanish), 1999. . *Bassegoda Nonell, Joan. «El caso de la catedral de la Seu d'Urgell». In: ''Espacio, Tiempo y Forma: Historia del Arte t. 3. Proyectos barrocos para la Seu d'Urgell'' (in Spanish), 1990. *Carbonell, Eduard; Cirici, Alexandre. Edicions 62. ''Grans monuments romànics i gòtics'', 1977. *Carrero Santamaría, Eduardo. «La Seu d'Urgell, el último conjunto de iglesias. Liturgia, paisaje urbano y arquitectura». In: CSIC, Inst. Mila i Fontanals, U.E.I. de Estudios Medievales. ''Anuario de estudios medievales'', 2010. *Junyent, Eduardo. ''L'Abadia de Montserrat. Catalunya romànica: l'arquitectura del segle XII'', 1976. . *Puig i Cadafalch, Josep. Institut d'Estudis Catalans. ''Escrits d'arquitectura, art i política'', Xavier Barral i Altet, 2003 (Volum 62 de Memòries de la Secció Històrico-Arqueològica). . {{DEFAULTSORT:La Seu La Seu d'Urgell Buildings and structures in the Province of Lleida Roman Catholic cathedrals in Catalonia Basilica churches in Spain

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