Old Cathedral of Lleida

The Cathedral of St. Mary of La Seu Vella is the previous cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lleida, in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain, positioned on pinnacle of Lleida hill. In 1707, the Gothic cathedral was became a navy castle by means of decision of King Philip V of Spain. The new cathedral, known as the Seu Nova and positioned downhill at Carrer Major, was consecrated in 1781. Nevertheless, the Seu Vella is the defining monument of Lleida, the symbol of the town, being seen from its hilltop web site everywhere within the city.

The web page was formerly occupied through a Palaeo-Christian and Visigothic cathedral, which later, after the Islamic conquest of Spain, became rebuilt in 832 to be used as a mosque. In 1149, after the metropolis's conquest through the Christian Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona and Ermengol VI of Urgell, the shape turned into reconsecrated as "Santa Maria Antiqua", and entrusted to canons everyday. In 1193, however, the Lleida cathedral bankruptcy ordered the construction of a new edifice, following the present day Romanesque architectural canons, to grasp Pere de Coma.