| Cathedral of Saint Mary | |
|---|---|
The cathedral in the midst of the old city | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Diocese | Tortosa |
| Year consecrated | 1447 |
| Location | |
| Location | Tortosa,Catalonia |
![]() Interactive map of Cathedral of Saint Mary | |
| Coordinates | 40°48′52″N0°31′21″E / 40.81444°N 0.52250°E /40.81444; 0.52250 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Cathedral |
| Style | Gothic andBaroque |
| Groundbreaking | 1347 |
| Completed | 1757 |
TheCatedral of Saint Mary ofTortosa is acathedral located in Tortosa,Catalonia,Spain and seat of theDiocese of Tortosa. The present structure is located in the center of the city's old town.
Its construction began in 1347 on the remains of a previous Romanesque cathedral. The cathedral was completed two centuries later. It was designed by Benito Dalguayre and has three naves with chapels between the buttresses and an ambulatory with radial chapels.[1] The church is constructed in the CatalanGothic style, though the façade, from the 18th century, isBaroque.
The cathedral’s apse has a rareheptagonal plan, a form that presented notable geometric and construction challenges in the Middle Ages because no exact classical method existed for setting out a regular heptagon. Archival drawings and construction records indicate that the apse was laid out using a modular proportional system—centered on a 9:8 ratio linking the radial chapels to the overall plan—rather than through abstract geometric construction.[2]
Archeological excavations on the site revealed that the cathedral was constructed on the site of an olderRomanesque church, which was itself built on the site of the old Roman forum of Tortosa.
The Cathedral was the location of the famousDisputations of Tortosa, where Jews were forced to defend their faith or convert. After two weeks of arguments, aPapal Bull was issued by theAntipope Benedict XIII that forbade the learning from the Talmud or any other Jewish book that attacked Christianity.