The Cathedral of Saint Mary is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

located in the city of

La Seu d'Urgell La Seu d'Urgell (; , formerly ''Urgell'') is a town located in Alt Urgell county in Alt Pirineu, Catalonia, Spain. The town is also the head of its judicial district and the seat of the Bishop of Urgell, one of the co-princes of Andorra. It is ...

, Spain. It is the seat of the

Bishops of Urgell The Diocese of Urgell (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Catalonia (Spain) and the Principality of Andorra in the historical County of Urgell,president of the French Republic The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the pos ...

are one of the Co-Princes of Andorra. The cathedral is the seat of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell The Diocese of Urgell (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Catalonia (Spain) and the Principality of Andorra in the historical County of Urgell,Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

. The cathedral is considered unique within Catalan

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...

for the Italianate-style features on the ornaments of its west front.

History

The construction of the cathedral was begun in 1116 to designs by the

master mason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

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 was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, 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 Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

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

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

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.

Gallery

(Barcelona) Altar frontal from La Seu d'Urgell or of the Apostles - Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya.jpg,

Frontal from La Seu d'Urgell or of The Apostles The Altar frontal from La Seu d'Urgell or of The Apostles is a Romanesque art, Romanesque altar frontal currently exhibited at the National Art Museum of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain. The work dates from the second quarter of the 12th century and c ...

, now conserved at MNAC Barcelona Cathedral of La Seu d'Urgell (9).jpg, Bell tower Cathedral of La Seu d'Urgell (5).jpg, North tower Cloister of the Cathedral of La Seu d'Urgell (3).jpg, Cloister Cathedral of La Seu d'Urgell (17).jpg, Apse

History

Gallery

Notes

References

Further reading