The Cathedral of St. Mary of la Seu Vella (Catalan and Spanish: ''Catedral de Santa Maria de la Seu Vella'', English: ''St. Mary of the Old —Bishop— Seat'') is the former cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lleida, in

Lleida Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as ...

, Catalonia, Spain, located on top of Lleida hill. In 1707, the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

cathedral was turned into a military citadel by decision of King Philip V of Spain. The new cathedral, known as the

Seu Nova The New Cathedral of Lleida (Catalan ''Catedral Nova de Lleida'') or Seu Nova is the seat of the Bishop of Lleida, located in Lleida, Catalonia. History The current cathedral replaced the earlier cathedral, La Seu Vella, Lleida located in the h ...

(New See) and located downhill at Carrer Major, was consecrated in 1781.La Catedral nueva de Lleida
Nevertheless, the Seu Vella is the defining monument of Lleida, the symbol of the city, being visible from its hilltop site anywhere in the city.

History

The site was previously occupied by a Palaeo-Christian and Visigothic cathedral, which later, after the Islamic conquest of Spain, was rebuilt in 832 to be used as a mosque. In 1149, after the city's conquest by the Christian Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona and Ermengol VI of Urgell (1149), the structure was reconsecrated as "Santa Maria Antiqua", and entrusted to canons regular. In 1193, however, the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

ordered the construction of a new edifice, following the contemporary Romanesque architectural canons, to master

Pere de Coma Pere de Coma was a medieval architect who died in the 13th century, the introducer of romanesque architecture, Romanesque in the Catalonia, Catalan city of Lleida. His background is nowadays unknown. However, it was suggested by scholars such as ...

. The first stone was laid in 1203 by King

Peter II of Aragon Peter II the Catholic (; ) (July 1178 – 12 September 1213) was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1196 to 1213. Background Peter was born in Huesca, the son of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile. In 1205 he acknowled ...

and count Ermengol VII of Urgell. Construction continued throughout the reign of James I of Aragon. It was consecrated to the Virgin Mary on 31 October 1278. The cloisters not were completed until the 14th century. The bell tower was begun in 14th century and finished in 1431. The portal Porta dels Apòstols begun in the 14th and completed in 15th century. In 1707, the city was conquered by the troops of

Philip V Philip V may refer to: * Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) * Philip V of France (1293–1322) * Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September ...

: the king ordered the destruction of the cathedral because it has taken a prominent part in the city's defense. Nevertheless, the order was never executed, and the cathedral was converted into barracks. The building was declared a national monument in 1918, and restoration works were started in 1950.

Description

The cathedral is designed in a transitional style between Romanesque and

. It lacks almost any influence of Islamic architecture. The floor plan is of a basilica in a Latin cross with a nave and two aisles. The tower is octagonal with a central space of five apses. The interior was decorated in painted murals and sculpture, much of which is still preserved, but much of which has been despoiled during the War of Spanish Succession. The octagonal tower is in diameter at its base, but at the top. Its maximum height is and it contains 238 steps. A bell named ''Mònica'' announces the quarter-hours and one ''Silvestra'' announces the hours. The bells are of the international Gothic style of the 15th century. The cloister is unusually placed in front of the main entrance of the church, and is notable for both its rare opened gallery with views over the city and for its extraordinary size. In fact, this cloister has been regarded as one of the largest cloisters in Europe. This cloister has 17 ornate Gothic windows, each of them different. Among them, one could point out the Muslim window of "the palmtrees" and the central one of the westernmost wing, with a complex decoration which includes both a King David's Star and a Christian cross.

References

Sources

Consorci Del Turó De La Seu Vella De Lleida - Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seu Vella Religion in Lleida Former mosques in Spain Conversion of non-Christian religious buildings and structures into churches 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain Buildings and structures in Lleida Romanesque architecture in Catalonia Gothic architecture in Catalonia Roman Catholic cathedrals in Catalonia