The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bilbao ( la, Dioecesis Flaviobrigensis) is a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

located in the city of

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

and Province of

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

in Northern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It is part of the

Ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...

History

* November 2, 1949: Established as Diocese of Bilbao from the dioceses of

Vitoria Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória (b ...

and

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

Territory

The Diocese of Bilbao covers all the territory of Biscay, except the exclave of Orduña (between Alava and

), and including the tiny enclave of

Valle de Villaverde Valle de Villaverde (also, until 2005, Villaverde de Trucíos
cantabria102municipi ...

(

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...

). The diocese is divided in seven territorial vicarages: # Encartaciones Bajas # Encartaciones Altas # Bilbao-Abando # Durango-Arratia # Gernikaldea # Bilbao-Begoña

Bishops of Bilbao

* Casimiro Morcillo González (13 May 1950 – 21 September 1955); transferred to

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

* Pablo Gúrpide Beope (19 December 1955 – 18 November 1968), died in office *

Antonio Añoveros Ataún Antonio Añoveros Ataún (1909–1987) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest. He is known mostly as a protagonist of the so-called "Añoveros case", a 1974 episode which marked the gravest crisis in relations between Francoist Spain and the Church. ...

(3 December 1971 – 25 September 1978), renounced *

Luis María de Larrea y Legarreta Luis María de Larrea y Legarreta (19 April 1918 – 28 May 2009) was a Spanish Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. At the age of 91, he was one of the oldest bishops in the Church. Luis María de Larrea y Legarreta was born in Miravalles, S ...

(16 February 1979 – 8 August 1995), renounced *

Ricardo Blázquez Pérez Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name * Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portu ...

(8 September 1995 – 15 March 2010); transferred to

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

(Cardinal in 2015) * Mario Iceta Gavicagogeascoa (11 October 2010 – 5 December 2020) * Joseba Segura Etxezarraga (11 May 2021 – present)

Special churches

*Minor Basilicas: **Basílica de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora/Andra Mariaren Zeruratzea,

Lekeitio Lekeitio (; es, Lequeitio) is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Spanish Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northeast from Bilbao. The municipality has 7,307 inhabitants (2019) and is one of the most importa ...

, Vizcaya,

País Vasco The Basque Country (; eu, Euskadi ; es, País Vasco ), also called Basque Autonomous Community ( eu, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, links=no, EAE; es, Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco, links=no, CAPV), is an autonomous community of Spain. It ...

** Basílica de la Purísima Concepción (Sortzez Garbia),

Elorrio Elorrio is a town and a municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the eastern part of the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, in northern Spain. , it has a population of 7,30 ...

, Vizcaya, País Vasco ** Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Begoña/Begoñako Andra Mari,

Begoña Begoña or more puristically but also more rarely spelled ''Begoina'', meaning 'the lower foot' (of Mount Artxanda), is a historical municipality of Biscay ( Basque Country, Spain) which was incorporated into Bilbao in 1925. Originally it include ...

, Vizcaya, País Vasco ** Santa María de Portugalete/Nazareteko Andra Mari,

Portugalete Portugalete is a town lying to the west of Bilbao in the province of Biscay in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain. The town has 45,766 inhabitants (2019 census) and is part of Bilbao's metropolitan area. It is located a ...

, Vizcaya, País Vasco ** Santa María de Uribarri/Uribarriko Andra Mari,

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

, Vizcaya, País Vasco

Basílica de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora

History

The church was consecrated in Lekeitio in 1287, and was recorded as under construction in 1374. A century later, in 1487, it was all but ready for use. The neo-Gothic retrochoir by architect Casto de Zavala was added between 1881 and 1884, thanks to benefactor Pascual Abaroa

Building

The church consist of three staggered naves in four sections and a polygonal

chevet In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

at the centre, the latter surrounded by a lower

retro-choir In church architecture, a retroquire (also spelled retrochoir), or back-choir, is the space behind the high altar in a church or cathedral, which sometimes separates it from the end chapel. It may contain seats for the church choir. An example o ...

. On the main wall there is a narrow gallery, in the form of windows with sills decorated with blind tracery. The church has one of the finest

triforia A triforium is an interior gallery (architecture), gallery, opening onto the tall central space of a building at an upper level. In a church, it opens onto the nave from above the side aisles; it may occur at the level of the clerestory windo ...

in all Basque Gothic Architecture. The archivolted west door is set into a façade blooming with tiny original sculptured decorations. The tower consists of an ancient shaft that rises to roof level and a more modern belfry above.

Furniture

The church is presided by a superb polychrome wood

retable A retable is a structure or element placed either on or immediately behind and above the altar or communion table of a church. At the minimum it may be a simple shelf for candles behind an altar, but it can also be a large and elaborate structur ...

. The retable recounts the life of the Virgin in narrative and symbolic references.

References

External links

GCatholic.org

Diocese website
* Basílica de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora de Lequeitio (Spanish language Wikipedia)
Basílica de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora homepage (english language)

Andra Mariaren Zeruratzea

Basilique L´Asuncion du Notre-Dame

Basilica photographs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilbao Roman Catholic dioceses in Spain Christian organizations established in 1949 Bilbao Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century 1949 establishments in Spain

History

Territory

Bishops of Bilbao

Special churches

Basílica de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora

History

Building

Furniture

See also

References

External links