ALMERÍA, Diocese of. - In Spain, situated in the territory of the province of the same name, suffragan of Granada. Within its limits was the ancient see of Urci, which was restored in A., but only for a short time (1147-57). In the 15th century three bishops of A. are found, but they seem to have been titular only. After the definitive reconquest of the city (1489), Innocent VIII re-established the diocese (1492). The Catholic Monarchs endowed the cathedral, the chapter, and the parishes, and founded the convents of the Dominicans, Franciscans and Trinitarians. The diocese acquired religious unity at the beginning of the 17th century with the expulsion of the "moriscos," who had resisted for over a century the attempts made to convert them. According to the latest statistics the diocese has an area of 6557 km2, 295,000 Catholic inhabitants, 110 parishes, 123 diocesan priests.
Monuments: the present cathedral (the mosque turned into a cathedral in 1492 was destroyed by an earthquake in 1522), in late Gothic style, is owed to Bishop Diego Fernández de Villalán (1523-56). It has paintings by Alonso Cano, sculptures by F. Salcillo Alcaraz, frescoes and choir stalls by Giovanni de Orea. The seminary, built by Bishop Giovanni Portocarrero (1602-30) and enlarged repeatedly, possesses a rich library, and furthermore a museum of natural history established at the expense of Msgr. B. Martínez y Nova (1921-34). There are two archives, the diocesan one (from 1527 onward) and that of the chapter.
Msgr. Diego Ventaja Milán, elected bishop of A. on 1 May 1935, died murdered in 1936.
Bibliography7 works
Giovanni Mesequer