SEGORBE, DIOCESI of. - City and diocese in Spain, suffragan of Valenza, in whose civil province and in that of Castellon de la Plana it is situated; some parishes are in those of Teruel and Cuenca. Erected under the name of “Segobriga” before the 6th century.
It has an area of 3,351 sq. km., with a population of 67,500 inhabitants, almost all Catholics; it comprises 69 parishes, served by 59 diocesan priests and 5 regular clergy, 3 male and 6 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1952, p. 374).
In the 6th century some bishops of this diocese are encountered; in the 8th century, however, it was destroyed by the Mohammedan invasion. It was subsequently restored in 1171, and in the following century was enriched by King Giacomo I of Aragon, conqueror of Valenza and the Balearic Islands. The patron of the diocese
(phot. García Garrabilla)
The Seminary was founded by Bishop Alfonso Cano in 1771, using the College of the Jesuits, then expelled, which had been built in 1630. The old Cathedral, converted into a mosque by the Moors, was restored by King Giacomo I, who made it into a Gothic church with three naves, completed in 1534. In the 18th century, however, it was greatly enlarged and decorated; it has a single nave 50 m. long, without transept or dome.