TERUEL, DIOCESE OF. — Diocese and chief city of the homonymous province in Spain. It covers an area of 6,200 sq. km. with a population of 85,650 inhabitants, almost all Catholic, distributed across 117 parishes served by 146 diocesan priests and 20 religious; it has a seminary, 6 male religious communities, and 15 female (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 422).
The city of Teruel stands at an altitude of 911 meters on the left bank of the Turia River, at the confluence of the Alfombra. Founded by the Iberians and called Turba, it was devastated by the Romans after Hannibal had destroyed Sagunto. The Arabs rebuilt the city and are said to have given it the name Teruel from a statue of a bull found among the ruins. Although reconquered by Alfonso II in 1171, the last mosque was not demolished until 1502. Peter IV visited the city in 1348 and granted it the title of exenta (exempt). Gregory XIII acceded to the requests of Philip II, and on July 31, 1577, the diocese of Teruel was created; its first bishop was appointed in J. Pérez de Artieda, but the first to reside there was A. Santos, transferred from Saragossa in 1579. Teruel was occupied by the French in 1808 and devastated by the civil war in 1936, during which many of its monuments were severely damaged.
The Cathedral, dedicated to the Assumption, was built in the 16th century but disfigured by restorations in 1685. The interior has three naves with a silver high altar (1750) and a retable depicting the Assumption by Gabriele Joli (1535). The wooden ceiling in Moorish style features painted decorations and Gothic corbels; it was executed in 1335 by Domingo Peñafior. In the 15th century, two smaller naves were added; the tiled dome was erected in 1538. In the Treasury of the sacristy is preserved a silver monstrance about 3 meters high, carved in Córdoba by B. García de los Reyes (1742). Other notable churches include that of El Salvador