TORTOSA, DIOCESE OF. – A city and diocese in the civil province of Tarragona in Spain. Over an area of 8,709 sq km, it has a population of 450,000, all Catholic, distributed across 209 parishes served by 232 diocesan priests and 74 regular clergy. It has a diocesan seminary, the *Seminario Conciliar Diocesano de Jesús*, 18 male religious communities and 83 female ones (Annuario Pontificio 1953, p. 427). It is a suffragan of Tarragona. The patroness of the diocese is the Blessed Virgin under the title of the Nativity, with her feast on 8 September.
The city of Tortosa is situated on the left bank of the Ebro in a fertile and narrow plain surrounded by mountains. It is the ancient Roman city of *Dertosa Iulia Augusta*; it was besieged and taken by Louis the Pious in 811, retaken by the Arabs, and reconquered by Ramon Berenguer IV in 1148. In the 14th century, the *Libro de las costumbres* of Tortosa attained great importance.
The first known bishop is Ursus in 516. During the Arab invasion, Tortosa suffered greatly, and little is known of its history during that period. In 1068, its bishop was Paterno; after Ramon Berenguer reconquered it, Gaufridus, abbot of Saint-Ruf in Avignon, became bishop. From 1473 to 1513, Alfonso of Aragon was bishop; he was succeeded by Adriano Florentz of Utrecht (1516–1522), who became cardinal in 1517 and later Pope Adrian VI. Following him was Cardinal Willem Enkervort (1523–1534), and from 1623 Cardinal Agostino Spinola, who was transferred to Granada in 1627.
The cathedral, begun in 1158, was consecrated by Berengarius, archbishop of Tarragona, in 1178. It was rebuilt between 1347 and 1597 and reconsecrated on 8 June of that year. Further additions were made between 1621 and 1725, giving it a mixed Gothic and Baroque appearance. The tower known as the *Almudena* dates from the Arab period. The interior has three naves; the high altar from the 14th century and the choir from the 16th were destroyed during the war of 1936–1938. The ambulatory with clustered pillars is from the 15th century; the wooden altarpiece with the Madonna and Child is from the 14th century. To the right of the choir is the *Parroquia*, with pillars and a dome from 1800. In the sacristy is an inscription recalling the ancient mosque; the Treasury contains artistic reliquaries, a ciborium with Christ in Majesty, manuscripts, tapestries, etc. The Gothic choir attached to the north side is from the 13th century. The church of Our Lady of the Rosary was rebuilt in 1947. The episcopal palace, from the 14th century and remodeled in the 18th, was damaged in 1938. The convent of Saint Louis was founded by Charles V in 1544; it has a Renaissance façade and a two-storey *patio* adorned with 38 busts of the kings of Aragon from 1137 to the early 17th century. The former convent of Saint Dominic has a Renaissance façade and now houses a museum of Iberian, Roman, Arab, and medieval antiquities, including ceramics from Alcor and Manises, artistic leatherwork from Valencia, paintings, etc. It also contains the archives, including the municipal charter of