List of cathedrals in Spain

This is a list of cathedrals in Spain, as established by the Spanish Episcopal Conference.^[1] It includes all 87 currently active cathedrals and co-cathedrals. All of these temples are Roman Catholic, and cathedrals of other Christian denominations are listed separately below. Some former Roman Catholic cathedrals are also listed separately.

Madrid

Seville

Barcelona

Almería

Cádiz

Córdoba

Guadix

Huelva

Jaén

Jerez

Málaga

Granada

Oviedo

Santander

Albacete

Ciudad Real

Cuenca

Sigüenza

Guadalajara

Toledo

Menorca

Palma

Ibiza

Murcia

Cáceres

Mérida

Badajoz

Coria

Plasencia

Alicante

Castelló

Orihuela

Segorbe

Valencia

Alcalá de H.

Getafe

Ceuta

Bilbao

Vitoria

San Sebastián

Sant Feliu

Terrassa

Girona

Urgell

Lleida

Solsona

Tarragona

Tortosa

Vic

Albarracín

Barbastro

Monzón

Huesca

Tarazona

Teruel

Jaca

Zaragoza

Pamplona

Tudela

Calahorra

Logroño

Santo Domingo

Ferrol

Lugo

Mondoñedo

Ourense

Tui

Vigo

Santiago

Soria

Palencia

Osma

Burgos

Astorga

León

Ávila

Ciudad Rodrigo

Segovia

Salamanca

Valladolid

Zamora

Location of cathedrals in continental Spain, Ceuta and the Balearic Islands. Bold indicates the seat of an Archidiocese.

San Cristóbal de La Laguna

Las Palmas

The two cathedrals in the Canary Islands.

A cathedral church is a Christian place of worship that is the chief church of a diocese and is distinguished as such by being the location for the cathedra or bishop's seat.^[2] As this list limits itself to temples that hold this title, some famous churches of the country are not included here, notably Barcelona's Basilica of the Sagrada Família and Santa María del Mar, the Basilica of Covadonga, the Poblet Abbey, the Hermitage of El Rocío, or El Escorial and Guadalupe Monasteries.

Christianity arrived in the Iberian peninsula in Roman times, and some of the earliest cathedrals were built during the Visigothic Kingdom. Very few remains survive to this day, mostly as foundations of current cathedrals, as is the case with the ones in Barcelona and Palencia.^[3] Following the gradual Reconquista from the Islamic Al-Andalus, new cathedrals were erected on the site of mosques, in the Romanesque style: Santiago de Compostela, Zamora and the Old Cathedral of Salamanca are some of the best examples from this period. The mudéjar style emerged in Castile, a mixture of the Islamic and Christian architectonic traditions that also reached Aragón and whose most celebrated example would be the Teruel Cathedral. At the same time, Gothic architecture arrived from France through the Way of Saint James and influenced many of the massive cathedrals found in the north, like Burgos and León, and was quickly adopted for those further south, as new territories were retaken, like the Toledo and Seville cathedrals, the latter being the largest Gothic church in the world.^[4] A local Gothic style survived longer than in other countries, with Segovia and the New Cathedral of Salamanca being built well into the 16th century. Renaissance ideas were seen as foreign and old, but were ultimately used for, among others, the Granada Cathedral, the site of the last Islamic stronghold. By the 17th century, wealth from the Americas financed ornate Baroque architecture such as a new façade for Santiago de Compostela or the Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza. In post-Gothic styles, Spanish cathedrals departed from the usual Latin-cross shape and developed more open designs. A handful of Spanish cathedrals contain details of modern architecture: the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid was not finished until 1993 and is an eclectic mixture of different reinterpretations of historical styles.^[5]

Today the Spanish cathedrals are major landmarks in their cities, and draw visitors from around the world each year, contributing significantly to the country's tourism. The Santiago de Compostela Cathedral has been an important religious pilgrimage site for centuries, and in 2017 received a record 2.6 million visitors.^[6] 24 of these cathedrals have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites, either by themselves, like Burgos, or as part of a larger site, generally including the surrounding old town area, as is the case with San Cristóbal de La Laguna or Ibiza. Moreover, all but two of them are protected monuments of national cultural interest.^[7][a]

List of Roman Catholic Cathedrals

Bold indicates seat of an archdiocese.

  Indicates a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Name	Location	Autonomous Community	Diocese	Dedication[b]	Notes	Images
Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist	Albacete	Castile-La Mancha	Albacete	1955[8]
Cathedral of the Saviour	Albarracín	Aragon	Teruel and Albarracín	1600
Magistral Cathedral of Saint Justus and Saint Pastor	Alcalá de Henares	Madrid	Alcalá de Henares	1991[9]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998, as part of the site University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá de Henares.[10] Only church together with Saint Peter's of Leuven to have the rank of Magistral, as their canons are required to be doctors in Theology.[11]
Co-Cathedral of Saint Nicholas of Bari	Alicante	Valencian Community	Orihuela-Alicante	1959[12]
Cathedral of the Incarnation	Almería	Andalusia	Almería	1551[13]
Cathedral of Saint Mary	Astorga	Castile and León	Astorga	1069[14]
Cathedral of the Saviour	Ávila	Castile and León	Ávila		UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985 as part of the site Old Town of Ávila with its Extra-Muros Churches.[15]
Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist	Badajoz	Extremadura	Mérida-Badajoz	1276[16]
Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption	Barbastro	Aragon	Barbastro-Monzón	1571[17]
Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia	Barcelona	Catalonia	Barcelona	1058[c]
Cathedral Basilica of Saint James	Bilbao	Basque Country	Bilbao	1955[19]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015, as part of the site Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Camino Francés and Routes of Northern Spain.[20]
Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mary	Burgos	Castile and León	Burgos	1260[21]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984,[22] Spain's first declared WHS.[23]
Co-Cathedral of Saint Mary	Cáceres	Extremadura	Coria-Cáceres	1957[24]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986, as part of the site Old Town of Cáceres.[25]
Cathedral of the Holy Cross over the Waters	Cádiz	Andalusia	Cádiz and Ceuta	1838[26]
Cathedral of Saint Mary	Calahorra	La Rioja	Calahorra and La Calzada-Logroño
Co-Cathedral of Saint Mary	Castellón de la Plana	Valencian Community	Segorbe-Castellón	1961[27]
Cathedral of the Assumption	Ceuta	Ceuta	Cádiz and Ceuta	1726[28]
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mary of the Prado	Ciudad Real	Castile-La Mancha	Ciudad Real	1981[29]	Since 1875 it holds the title of priory of the military orders of Santiago, Alcántara, Calatrava and Montesa.[30]
Cathedral of Saint Mary	Ciudad Rodrigo	Castile and Leon	Ciudad Rodrigo	1160[21]
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mary	Ciutadella	Balearic Islands	Menorca	1795[31]
Cathedral of the Assumption of our Lady	Córdoba	Andalusia	Córdoba	1236[32]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984, and extended in 1994 to create the site Historic Centre of Cordoba.[33] Better known as the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba.[34]
Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption	Coria	Extremadura	Coria-Cáceres	1898[35]
Cathedral of Saint Mary and Saint Julian	Cuenca	Castile-La Mancha	Cuenca	1196[36]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996 as part of the site Historic Walled Town of Cuenca. It is considered the first gothic cathedral in Spain.[37]
Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary	El Burgo de Osma	Castile and Leon	Osma-Soria	1272[38]
Co-Cathedral of Saint Julian	Ferrol	Galicia	Mondoñedo-Ferrol	1959[39]
Cathedral of Saint Mary Magdalene	Getafe	Madrid	Getafe	1995[40]
Cathedral of Saint Mary	Girona	Catalonia	Girona	1038[41]	Widest gothic nave in the world at 23 m.[21]
Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of the Incarnation	Granada	Andalusia	Granada	1946[d]	Burial place of the Catholic Monarchs.
Co-Cathedral of Saint Mary the Major	Guadalajara	Castile-La Mancha	Sigüenza-Guadalajara	1959[43]
Cathedral of the Incarnation	Guadix	Andalusia	Guadix		Guadix is traditionally considered the oldest episcopal see in Spain, founded by Saint Torquatus in the 1st century AD.[44]
Cathedral of Our Lady of Mercy	Huelva	Andalusia	Huelva	1954[45]
Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord	Huesca	Aragon	Huesca	1098[46]
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Snows	Ibiza	Balearic Islands	Ibiza	1782[47]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999 as part of the site Ibiza, Biodiversity and Culture.[48]
Cathedral of Saint Peter	Jaca	Aragon	Jaca	1063[49]
Cathedral of the Assumption	Jaen	Andalusia	Jaén	1660[50]
Cathedral of the Holy Saviour	Jerez de la Frontera	Andalusia	Asidonia-Jerez	1980[51]
Cathedral of Saint Mary	La Seu d'Urgell	Catalonia	Urgell	1040[e]	The town itself incorporated the cathedral to its name, being seo an alternate Latin name for cathedral church. Its bishop is one of the co-Princes of Andorra, ruling since 988.[53]
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Anne	Las Palmas	Canary Islands	Canarias	1871[54]
Cathedral of Saint Mary	León	Castile and Leon	León	1303[55]
Cathedral of the Assumption	Lleida	Catalonia	Lleida	1781[56]	Commonly known as the New Cathedral of Lleida.
Co-Cathedral of Saint Mary of La Redonda	Logroño	La Rioja	Calahorra and La Calzada-Logroño	1959[57]
Cathedral of the Assumption of Saint Mary	Lugo	Galicia	Lugo	1273[21]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015, as part of the site Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Camino Francés and Routes of Northern Spain.[20]
Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Mary the Royal of La Almudena	Madrid	Madrid	Madrid	1993[58]	Only cathedral in Spain and first one outside Rome to be consecrated by a pope.[59]
Cathedral of the Armed Forces	Madrid	Madrid	Military Archbishopric of Spain	1985[60]
Cathedral Basilica of the Incarnation	Málaga	Andalusia	Málaga	1588[61]
Metropolitan Co-Cathedral of Saint Mary the Major	Mérida	Extremadura	Mérida-Badajoz	2006[f]
Cathedral Basilica of the Virgin of the Assumption	Mondoñedo	Galicia	Mondoñedo-Ferrol	1246[63]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015, as part of the site Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Camino Francés and Routes of Northern Spain.[20]
Co-Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Romeral	Monzón	Aragon	Barbastro-Monzón	1998[64]
Cathedral of Saint Mary	Murcia	Murcia	Cartagena	1467[65]
Cathedral of the Saviour and Saint Mary	Orihuela	Valencian Community	Orihuela-Alicante	1510[66]
Cathedral of Saint Martin	Ourense	Galicia	Ourense	1188[67]
Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of the Holy Saviour	Oviedo	Asturias	Oviedo	821[68]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015, as part of the site Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Camino Francés and Routes of Northern Spain.[20] Its Cámara Santa (Holy Chamber) was previously designated in 1998, as part of site Monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of the Asturias.[69]
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Antoninus	Palencia	Castile and Leon	Palencia	1897[g]	Third largest in total area in Spain.[71]
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mary	Palma	Balearic Islands	Majorca	1346[21]	Its gothic rose window is the largest in the world, at 13 m.[72]
Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption	Pamplona	Navarre	Pamplona and Tudela	1127[21]
Cathedral of the Assumption of our Lady	Plasencia	Extremadura	Plasencia	1578[73]	A complex of two cathedrals, an old and a new one, both unfinished and adjacent to each other.[74]
Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See	Salamanca	Castile and Leon	Salamanca		UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988 as part of the site Old City of Salamanca.[75] Better known as the Old Cathedral.
Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin	Salamanca	Castile and Leon	Salamanca	1733[76]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988 as part of the site Old City of Salamanca.[75] Better known as the New Cathedral.
Cathedral of Our Lady of Los Remedios	San Cristóbal de La Laguna	Canary Islands	San Cristóbal de La Laguna	1819[77]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999 as part of the site San Cristóbal de La Laguna.[78]
Cathedral of the Good Shepherd	San Sebastian	Basque Country	San Sebastian	1953[79]
Cathedral of Saint Lawrence	Sant Feliu de Llobregat	Catalonia	Sant Feliu de Llobregat	2004[80]
Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption	Santander	Cantabria	Santander	1754[81]
Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Saint James the Apostle	Santiago de Compostela	Galicia	Santiago de Compostela	1211[82]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985, as part of the site Santiago de Compostela (Old Town).[83] Traditionally regarded as the burial place of the apostle James the Great, and the subject of pilgrimage for centuries. Depicted on Spanish 1, 2 and 5 Euro cent coins.[84]
Cathedral of the Saviour and Saint Mary	Santo Domingo de la Calzada	La Rioja	Calahorra and La Calzada-Logroño	1232[85]
Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady	Segorbe	Valencian Community	Segorbe-Castellón	1534[86]	The interior was fully renovated between 1791 and 1795, becoming the only cathedral in the Academic style in Spain.[87]
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption and of Saint Fructus	Segovia	Castile and Leon	Segovia	1768[88]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985 as part of the site Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct.[89]
Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See	Seville	Andalusia	Seville	1507[90]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, as part of the site Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Seville.[91] Largest gothic cathedral in the world.[92]
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mary	Sigüenza	Castile-La Mancha	Sigüenza-Guadalajara	1169[93]
Cathedral of Saint Mary	Solsona	Catalonia	Solsona	1593[94]
Co-Cathedral of Saint Peter	Soria	Castile and Leon	Osma-Soria	1959[95]	Stills keep the older, Romanesque, cloister from the 12th century from a previous church that fell down around 1543. It was replaced with the current, Gothic building.[96]
Cathedral of Saint Mary of La Huerta	Tarazona	Aragon	Tarazona	1235[97]	Reopened in 2011 after a 30-year renovation that rediscovered a set of al fresco paintings from the 1540s showing nude mythological creatures, a unique feature for a cathedral in Europe.[98]
Primatial Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Saint Thecla	Tarragona	Catalonia	Tarragona	1331[99]
Cathedral of the Holy Spirit	Terrassa	Catalonia	Terrassa	2004[100]
Cathedral of Saint Mary of Mediavilla	Teruel	Aragon	Teruel and Albarracín	1587[101]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986 as part of the site Mudéjar architecture of Aragon (specifically its bell tower, lantern tower, and wooden ceiling).[102]
Primatial Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption	Toledo	Castile-La Mancha	Toledo	1493[103]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986 as part of the site Historic City of Toledo.[104] Since 1088, it holds the honorific title of Primatial, granted by Urban II, establishing a higher rank over the rest in the Iberian Peninsula.[105]
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mary	Tortosa	Catalonia	Tortosa	1441[106]
Cathedral of Saint Mary the Major	Tudela	Navarre	Pamplona and Tudela	1782[107]
Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption	Tui	Galicia	Tui-Vigo	1225[108]
Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of our Lady	Valencia	Valencian Community	Valencia	1238[109]	Claims to house the Holy Grail since 1437.[110]
Metropolitan Cathedral of our Lady of the Assumption	Valladolid	Castile and Leon	Valladolid	1668[111]	Originally projected to be the largest cathedral in Christendom, it was left unfinished when less than half of the building was built.[112]
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Peter	Vic	Catalonia	Vic	1803[113]
Co-Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mary	Vigo	Galicia	Tui-Vigo	1959[114]
Cathedral of Saint Mary	Vitoria-Gasteiz	Basque Country	Vitoria	1863[115]	UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015, as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Camino Francés and Routes of Northern Spain.[20] Commonly known as the "Old cathedral".
Cathedral of Mary Immaculate	Vitoria-Gasteiz	Basque Country	Vitoria	1969[116]	Commonly known as the "New cathedral". Second largest cathedral in Spain, by area, after Seville.[116]
Cathedral of the Saviour	Zamora	Castile and Leon	Zamora	1174[117]
Metropolitan Cathedral of the Saviour	Zaragoza	Aragon	Zaragoza	1318[118]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001 as part of the extension of the site Mudéjar architecture of Aragon.[102]
Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar	Zaragoza	Aragon	Zaragoza	1676[119]	With an estimated 5 million visitors in 2015, it's one of the most visited monuments in Spain.[120]

Former Roman Catholic Cathedrals

This list includes notable historical buildings that held the see of the bishop until it was moved, merged or suppressed. Buildings that once have held the see of current titular sees are not included.

Name	Location	Autonomous Community	Diocese	Dedication[b]	Notes	Images
Cathedral of the Nativity of our Lady	Baeza	Andalusia	Jaén	1227[121]	UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003, as part of the site Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda and Baeza.[122] Was the seat of the cathedra between 1227 and 1249, when it was moved to Jaén.
Church of the Assumption of Our Lady	Baza	Andalusia	Guadix		Held the rank of Co-Cathedral until the Concordat of 1851.[123]
Church of the Holy Cross	Cádiz	Andalusia	Cádiz and Ceuta	1602[124]	Also known as the Old Cathedral of Cádiz. Seat of the diocese between 1602 and 1838.
Cathedral of Saint Mary	Cartagena	Murcia	Cartagena	1250[125]	Held the seat of the diocese until 1289, when it was moved to Murcia.[126] Heavily bombed during the Spanish Civil War, it lays in ruins since 1936.[127] In 1988, a Roman theatre was discovered under it.[128]
Old Cathedral of Lleida	Lleida	Catalonia	Lleida	1278[129]	In 1707, during the War of the Spanish Succession, king Philip V of Spain took the city and later ordered the destruction of the cathedral. The order never took place, but the cathedral was transformed into barracks and it never had a religious use since then.[130]
Collegiate of Saint Isidore the Royal	Madrid	Madrid	Madrid	1885	Pro-cathedral of Madrid between 1885, date of creation of the diocese, and 1993.[131]
Cathedral of Saint Vincent Martyr	Roda de Isábena	Aragon	Barbastro-Monzón	1030[132]	Held the seat until 1149, when it moved to the recently conquered Lleida. Regarded as the oldest Cathedral in Aragón.[133] The town, with approximately 60 inhabitants in 2016, is the smallest one in Spain to have a cathedral building.[134]

Anglican

The Cathedral of the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church:

• Anglican Cathedral of the Redeemer in Madrid^[135]

Eastern Orthodox

Cathedrals of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople:

• Cathedral of Apostle Andrew and Saint Dimitrios in Madrid

Cathedrals of the Romanian Orthodox Church:

• Romanian Orthodox Cathedral of Madrid, since 2017.^[136]

Cathedrals of the Russian Orthodox Church

• Cathedral of Saint Mary Magdalene in Madrid

See also

• Catholic Church in Spain
• Lists of cathedrals by country
• List of the Roman Catholic dioceses of Spain

Explanatory notes

1. The two excluded ones are Sant Feliu de Llobregat and Terrassa cathedrals, both located near Barcelona.
2. Year of dedication as a cathedral. This may not reflect the actual age or completion of the building, which can be several centuries older. The latest dedication year known for the current building is used. In some cases, older cathedrals where functioning on the same site, but those buildings were demolished, destroyed or replaced.
3. Consecretion of the Romanesque cathedral. The latter, Gothic building was never formally consecrated, as it was considered a "significant extension" but not a new cathedral.^[18]
4. Even though the Cathedral has been active since 1561, it was formally consecrated in 1946 as it was suspected that it has never been so.^[42]
5. Consecretion year of the third of the four cathedrals that were erected here. The current building, started in 1116 by Bishop Ot remains in many aspects, unfinished.^[52]
6. Formally consecrated in 2006, after lack of evidence that it was done so in 1994, after it was elevated co-cathedral of the archdiocese.^[62]
7. Formally consecrated in 1897 after lack of evidence that it was done before.^[70]