La Seu Vella

The Cathedral of "La Seu Vella" of Lleida is the oldest cathedral in Lleida, Catalonia. It was replaced by a newer structure, the Seu Nova. "Seu Vella" and "Seu Nova" mean "Old See" and "New See" respectively. Nevertheless, the Seu Vella is the defining monument of Lleida, being visible from its hilltop site anywhere in the city.

History

Construction began on the site in 1203 under the direction of Pere de Coma, the first master builder and the building's original architect. Construction continued throughout the reign of James the Conqueror, as whose architectural monument it is sometimes seen. It was consecrated to the Virgin Mary on 31 October 1278. The cloisters were not completed until the fourteenth century, at which time work on the belltower was begun. It was finished in 1431.

In 1707, the city was conquered by troops of Philip V and the cathedral was ordered destroyed by express command of the king because it has taken a prominent part in the city's defence. Nevertheless, the ordered was never followed through upon and the cathedral was converted into a barracks and cut off from the public in 1797.

Description

The cathedral is designed in a transitory style between romanesque and gothic. It lacks almost any influence of Islamic architecture. The floor plan is of a basilica in a Latin cross with three naves. 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 12.65 metres in diameter at its base, but 9.62 metres at the top. Its maximum height is 60 metres 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 infrequently placed in front of the main entrance of the church, and can be highlighted for both its unusual opened gallery with "vistas" over the city and its extraordinary size. In fact, this cloister has been regarded as one of the largest cloisters in whole Europe [ [http://architecture.relig.free.fr/lerida.htm Lerida (Lleida) ] ] . This cloister has 17 beautiful gothic windows, all them different. Among them, we could point out the Muslim window of "the palmtrees" and the central one of the westerner wing, with a complex decoration witch includes both a King David's Star and a Christian Cross.

Gallery

References

ee also

*Cathedrals in Spain