URGEL, DIOCESE OF. – A diocese of Spain in Catalonia, in the province of Lleida, with its seat in Seo de Urgel at an elevation of 700 m. on the banks of the Segre. The territory of the diocese extends over 7,950 sq. km., not only in the civil provinces of Lleida and Girona, but also in that of Huesca, and in France and Andorra, of which the bishop of Urgel has been the prince since 1278.
It has an area of 7,930 sq. km. with a population of 142,084, almost all Catholic, distributed among 497 parishes, served by 256 diocesan priests and 28 religious; it has two seminaries; 10 male and 34 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 439). The diocese is a suffragan of Tarragona. Among its bishops, the earliest known is St. Justus, from the mid-6th century; then Felix, d. 834; St. Ermengol (1010–35; cf. Martyrologium Romanum, p. 495); St. Odo, d. 1122; Pedro de Luna (1365–70), later antipope; the theologian A. Capilla (1588–1609); L. Díaz Aux de Armendáriz (1622–27); A. Pérez (1627–33); J. Benlloch y Vivo (1906–19), later cardinal.
The cathedral, dedicated to St. Odo, was begun at the start of the 11th century by St. Ermengol and completed in 1175 by Lombard masters, as was the cloister. Its plan is inspired by that of the abbey of Ripoll; its imposing architecture, the fine proportions of the central nave, and the artistic apses were later defaced in the 18th century. The high altar is Gothic, in the style of that of the cathedral of Barcelona. It was sacked in 1936. Attached to the cathedral is an artistic cloister with broad Romanesque galleries, except for the eastern one, which is later. To the left of the cathedral is the "Parroquia" in the classical style of the 18th century.
The episcopal palace is of various periods, with an elegant façade and a square tower.
Among the manuscripts are the famous codex of the Apocalypse (P. Pujol i Tubau, De paleografia visigótica a Catalunya: El còdex de l'Apocalipsi de Beatus de la Catedral d'U., in Bulletin de la Biblioteca de Catalunya, 4 [1917], pp. 6–27); a codex of Gregory the Great’s Dialogues from the 10th century (ms. XI, 173), a Bible from the 11th century (XI, 175); the manuscript of the monk Guillerm Costa de Curu, prior of Santa Maria de Ripoll, etc.
Noteworthy is the church founded by St. Ermengol, dedicated to St. Michael, for the 12th-century frescoes it contains. In the cathedral archives are preserved valuable original documents such as one from Sylvester II to Bishop Sala of May 1001; a grant by Bishop Ermengol to the Chapter in 1010; a grant by Benedict VIII to the same bishop in 1012; one by Eugenius III to Bishop Bernardo of 17 March 1151; and several by Alexander III (1163–75).
At Tremp is the shrine of Santa Maria de Pallars, now Santa Maria de Valle de Flores. The original church, destroyed by the Arabs, was rebuilt by Bishop Bernardo in 1087 and endowed by Count Raymond of Pallars and his family; it later became collegiate (A. Coy y Cotónat, Sort y comarca Noguera Pallaresa, Barcelona 1906; M. Lledós y Mir, Historia de la antigua villa hoy ciudad de Tremp, Barcelona 1917). Pope Pius XI, by an apostolic letter of 23 January 1923, raised the shrine of Tremp to the rank and dignity of a minor basilica (AAS, 15 [1923], pp. 146–47). At Tremp there was also the Dominican convent of Santiago de Pallars, known as "Schola Christi." At Núria in the Freser valley, at 1,985 m. above sea level, is a 12th-century shrine with a church from 1642 and another modern one. At Gerri is the abbey of San Vicente, founded by the Count of Pallars, now Nuestra Señora de Gerri (J. Pasqual, Principio, progreso y decadencia del R. Monasterio de San Vicente (hoy de Nuestra Señora) de Gerri, in Revista de Ciencias Históricas, 1 [1880], pp. 54–59). At Mur is a monastery founded by Count Peter of Pallars in 1108; it is mentioned in the Liber Censuum (ed. Fabre-Duchesne, p. 17; J. Miret y Sans, Nota a la fundació del monestir de Mur, in Boletín de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona, 6 [1941]). At Àger (Aggerense Castrum) the church of San Pedro with an attached monastery is mentioned in the Liber Censuum (ed. Fabre-Duchesne, I, p. 216; II, p. 116); there are also documents from Pope Alexander III to Abbot Raimoro of 1165 and 1179. At Castellbò is the female abbey of Santa Cecilia de Elins, from 1436.