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 (

Alt Urgell Alt Urgell () is a ''comarca'' (county) in Catalonia, Spain, a modern representation of part of the historic County of Urgell (''ca'' 789 - 1413), seat of the Counts of Urgell and the historic region of Urgellet Urgellet () is a historical te ...

) in Catalonia. It is the seat of the

Bishops of Urgell The Diocese of Urgell is a diocese in Catalonia (Spain) and Andorra in the historical County of Urgell,

, who are also

Co-Princes of Andorra The co-princes of Andorra are jointly the heads of state ( ca, cap d'estat) of the Principality of Andorra, a landlocked microstate lying in the Pyrenees between France and Spain. Founded in 1278 by means of a treaty between the Bishop of Urge ...

. The cathedral is considered unique within Catalan Romanesque architecture 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

Ramon Llambard Ramon Llambard, Ramon Lambard, Raimon Lambard or Raimundo Lambardo (died c. 1195) was a medieval architect and master of works active in Catalonia in the 12th century. He is most notable for his design of La Seu d'Urgell Cathedral. Bibliography ...

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, 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. 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 Joan Brudieu (; 1520–1591) was a Catalan Spanish composer. Brudieu was born around 1520 in the diocese of Limoges and died in la Seu d'Urgell in 1591, but can generally be considered as Catalan, since the few biographical details found locate hi ...

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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