IGLESIAS, DIOCESE of. - Diocese and city in the province of Cagliari, in Sardinia.
It has an area of 1,600 sq. km. and a population of 122,000 inhabitants, of whom 121,950 are Catholics. It has 30 parishes with 53 diocesan priests and 7 regular clergy, 1 seminary; 2 male and 20 female religious communities (1949).
The ancient seat of the diocese was at Sulcis, now S. Antioco; it then moved to Tratalias, where an inscription on the exterior of the Cathedral recalls the two bishops Alberto and Aimone (12th cent.). Pope Giulio II transferred the diocese to I. on 8 Dec. 1503, appointing mons. G. Pilares bishop; but in 1513 I. was united with Cagliari. Pope Clemente XIII, by a bull of 18 March 1763, again separated I. from Cagliari, appointing mons. L. Satta as its bishop. The Cathedral, dedicated to s. Chiara di Assisi and begun toward the end of the 13th cent., was altered internally with rib vaulting during Aragonese rule; other notable churches are the Gothic church of S. Francesco and that of the Maddalena di Valverde, known as that of the Cappuccini.