Sant Pere de Camprodon

La Seu Vella de Lleida

Aachen canons

Lleida was an episcopal see from very ancient times. Sagiti is the first known bishop. He already held this position in 419, on the other hand, in 546 a council was held in this place and later, in 587, Bishop Polibi represented the diocese in the Council of Toledo. There was probably already a church there at that time. That institution was lost following the Saracen invasion in 719. The bishopric of Lleida was restored in 1149 when the territory was recovered, with the participation of the Bishop of Roda d’Isàvena and Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona.

Seu Vella de Lleida
Santa Maria l'Antiga before the restoration

It was established that all mosques in the city would become property of the diocese. Following this rule, the Great Mosque was consecrated as a Christian church in 1149 and in its place the first church was built (or recovered), the centre of episcopal power: Santa Maria l'Antiga, which was located next to the King's Castle (or the Suda). In 1203, construction began on a new cathedral that would take the place of Santa Maria l'Antiga and other adjacent buildings, which was consecrated in 1278. The canonry would have been instituted or recovered in 1149, and reorganized in 1168, adopting the rule of Saint Augustine with the participation of the bishopric of Roda, which transferred the canonical community there, although it kept around twenty canons in their place of origin. The Augustinian canonry replaced an earlier community of canons who followed the Aachen rule.

In 1254 the community was reorganised again, now as a secular canonical community, and was endowed financially, with the right of its members to own private property. It remained closely linked to that of Roda. Over time it accumulated a considerable level of wealth and power, which it even retained after the disentailment. The primitive church of Santa Maria l'Antiga (or Santa Maria in Sede) has been identified with the remaining structures on the west wing of the cloister, and next to it should be the canonical dependencies. When the cathedral was built, the old single-nave church would have been used as a canonical facility.

Seu Vella de Lleida

Seu Vella de Lleida
Apses of the south transept

Seu Vella de Lleida
South facade

Seu Vella de Lleida
Portal of the Annunciata

Seu Vella de Lleida
Portal of the Fillols

Seu Vella de Lleida

Seu Vella de Lleida
Chapel of the Epiphany

Seu Vella de Lleida
Chapel of Saint Thomas

Seu Vella de Lleida
Chapel of Saint Thomas. Apostles

Seu Vella de Lleida
Capitals of the nave

Seu Vella de Lleida
Interior of the lantern tower

Seu Vella de Lleida
Rose window

Seu Vella de Lleida
Central portal of the cloister

Seu Vella de Lleida
Cloister

Seu Vella de Lleida
Sarcophagus of the Perves lineage

Seu Vella de Lleida
Sarcophagus front

Seu Vella de Lleida
Portal of the Apostles

Seu Vella de Lleida
Portal of the Apostles
Old postcard, private collection

Seu Vella de Lleida
Old postcard, private collection r

Seu Vella de Lleida
Old postcard, private collection

Seu Vella de Lleida
Vista oriental de la ciudad de Lérida
Juan Fernando Palomino, 1783
Institut d'Estudis Ilerdencs. Servei d'Arxiu i Llegats

Bibliography:

ALCOY, Rosa; i altres (2003). Seu Vella. L'esplendor retrobada. Lleida: Generalitat de Catalunya / La Caixa
BOIX I POCIELLO, Jordi C. (1998). De Roda a Lleida. La fi d’un somni heroic. Institut d’Estudis del Baix Cinca
CABESTANY, Joan F. dir. (1995). Lambard. Estudis d’art medieval, vol. VIII. Barcelona: Institut d’Estudis Catalans
LLADONOSA, Josep (1972). Història de Lleida. Vol. I. Tàrrega: F C Calmet
MACIÀ, Montserrat (1997). Santa Maria de Lleida (la Seu Vella). Catalunya romànica. Vol. XXIV. El Segrià, Garrigues, Pla d'Urgell, Segarra, Urgell. Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana

MACIÀ, Montserrat (2002). La Seu Vella de Lleida. L’art gòtic a Catalunya. Arquitectura I. Catedrals, monestirs i altres edificis religiosos. Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana
NIÑÁ JOVÉ, Meritxell (2012). La redescoberta d'una catedral. La restauració monumental a la Seu Vella de Lleida. Porticvm, Revista d´Estudis Medievals, núm. 3
SAINZ DE BARANDA, Pedro (1850). España Sagrada. Tomo XLVII. De la santa Iglesia de Lérida en su estado moderno. Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia, 1850

Location:

La Seu Vella is located in the upper part of the city, above the old town

Canonry of Santa Maria l'Antiga of la Seu Vella