La Seu d'Urgell Cathedral

La Seu d'Urgell Cathedral
Cathedral of Saint Mary
Catalan: Catedral de Santa Mariacode: cat promoted to code: ca Spanish: Catedral de Santa María
West façade
42°21′28″N 1°27′42″E
Location	La Seu d'Urgell
Address	16, Plaça del Deganat
Country	Spain
Denomination	Catholic
Website	museucatedralseudurgell.org
History
Status	Cathedral
Dedication	Mary, mother of Jesus
Dedicated	1040
Architecture
Architect(s)	Ramon Llambard
Style	Romanesque
Years built	1116–1182
Administration
Metropolis	Tarragona
Diocese	Urgell
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Joan Enric Vives i Sicília
Spanish Cultural Heritage
Type	Non-movable
Criteria	Monument
Designated	3 June 1931
Reference no.	RI-51-0000689

The Cathedral of Saint Mary is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in the city of La Seu d'Urgell, Spain. It is the seat of the Bishops of Urgell, who together with the president of the French Republic are one of the Co-Princes of Andorra. The Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell, the includes also the country of Andorra.

The cathedral is considered unique within Catalan Romanesque architecture for the Italianate-style features on the ornaments of its west front.

History

Interior

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

• 
  Frontal from La Seu d'Urgell or of The Apostles, now conserved at MNAC Barcelona
• 
  Bell tower
• 
  North tower
• 
  Cloister
• 
  Apse

Further reading

• DDAA. Universidad de Oviedo. Arte e Identidades Culturales: Actas del XII congreso nacional del comité español de Historia del Arte (in Spanish), 1999. ISBN 978-84-8317-083-0.
• 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. ISBN 84-297-1335-2
• 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. ISBN 84-7202-127-0.
• 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). ISBN 84-7283-717-3.