Seu Vella and Castle of the King-Suda

The Seu Vella old cathedral, also known as “Lleida Castle”, is de­finitely the city’s most em­ble­ma­tic monument.

This unique cathedral sits on top of the hill overlooking the city and affords magnificent views of Lleida and the su­rroun­ding countryside of Se­grià coun­ty. Construction of the ca­thedral began in 1203, but the bell tower was not com­pleted until 1431. The first master buil­der was Pe­re de Coma. Ac­cor­ding to his­to­rians, the ca­thedral was built on top of a for­mer Mus­lim mosque. The temple was the first buil­ding to be com­pleted and was con­se­crated for worship in 1278 and dedicated to the Vir­gin Mary. It has a Latin cross floor plan with a nave and two aisles.

The Old Cathedral

The outs­tanding fea­tu­res of the interior include the stonework in the na­ves, which show the influence of the ar­ti­sans from Tuscany, Toulouse and Pro­ven­ce who wor­ked on the cathedral throug­hout the 13th century, as well as the re­mains of Gothic mural pain­tings. After the con­se­cration of the temple, work continued into the 14th century, when the cloister was com­ple­ted and cons­truc­tion work be­gan on the bell tower and lasted until 1431.

The Seu Vella is a site of the 1714 Route, the War of the Spa­nish Succession.

The Canonja

The entrance to the Seu Vella is through the Canonja, the name given to the set of buildings that housed the priests and canons who made up the Chapter at the cathedral. These buildings date from the second half of the 12th century to the 16th century, and include the remains of the old church of Santa Maria l’Antiga, different chapels, the Pia Al­moï­na (canon’s house), the Chapter room, the archive, and the De­ca­nóa or Vault House.

The Doorways

Besides the current entrance doorway in La Canonja, there are other doorways of great cul­tural interest, such as the Anun­ciata doorway (13th century), the “Fillols” doorway (13th-14th centuries), the Sant Berenguer doorway (12th century), and the Apostles’ doorway (14th-15th cen­turies), as well as the three doors from the cloister (13th cen­tury), which provide a clear example of the style of ar­chi­tec­tural sculpture known as the Llei­da School.

The Bell Tower

The oldest bells are from the 15th century: They are called Silvestra, which rings on the hours, and Mònica, which rings on the quarter hours. The other five are electric bells from the mid-20th century that have an essentially liturgical function. They are called Bàrbara, Pu­rí­s­sima, Crist, Marieta and Meuc.

The Cloister

This 14th-century rectangular cloister is a unique, open clo­is­ter, located on the west side of the cathedral. It has a gallery with five ogival arches and ele­gant tracery windows that pro­vi­de breathtaking views of the city and the countryside beyon.

The Castle of the King - La Suda

Last Caliph of Cordoba re­fu­ge, venue of the Aragon’s Crown origin or witness of the loyalty oath of the catalan and ara­go­ne­se nobles to In­fan­te James (later James I the Conqueror). These are so­me of the his­to­ri­cal facts that the Suda Cas­tle or King Cas­tle has lived within the walls during its exis­tence.

So outs­tanding epi­sodes in the his­tory of Llei­da, Ca­ta­lo­nia and, of course, of Spain have been de­ve­lo­ped in this building si­tua­ted at the top of the Seu Vella’s hill, crowning the So­ve­reign Rock.

A privileged and a strategic site that holds a cas­tle of Mus­lim origin that dates from the year 882 where Lleida has o­pened an Interpretation Cen­tre.

This Cen­tre, located in the royal hall of the Castle, has a museum area with in­for­ma­tion panels and an au­dio­vi­sual that shows the history of the building.

The cultural equi­pment is com­ple­ted with a viewpo­int terrace where you could ob­serve the lands­cape. It is the highest ac­ce­s­sible po­int of the city.

 

Contact

Turó de la Seu Vella 
Phone: 973 230 653
www.turoseuvella.cat 

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