Cathedral Chapter
The Chapter of canons of the Holy Church Cathedral Basilica Metropolitan and Primate of Tarragona of Santa Tecla is formed by the priests appointed by the archbishop of the Diocese of Tarragona who take care of the worship, pastoral, charity and everything related to the management of the Cathedral.
At present, the Cathedral Chapter of Tarragona is formed by fifteen canons and four more honorary canons.
- Mn. Antoni Pérez de Mendiguren i Cros, Dean-president. c/e: dega.catedral@arqtgn.cat
- Mgr. Miquel Barbarà Anglès, in charge of music and Chapel Master.
- Mn. Josep M. Serra Roigé, responsible for the organization of personnel and material for worship.
- Mn. Josep Queraltó Serrano, Master of Ceremonies
- Mn. Joaquim Fortuny Vizcarro, Second Syndic
- Mn. Manuel M. Fuentes Gasó, Canon
- Mn. Norbert Miracle Figuerola, Canon
- Mn. Joan Antoni Cedó Perelló, Canon
- Mn. Antonio P. Martínez Subías, responsible for artistic and documentary patrimony. c/e: patrimoni.catedral@arqtgn.cat
- Mn. Joaquim Gras Minguella, Worker
- Mn. Jordi Figueras Jové, Canon
- Mn. Rafael Serra Abellà, Canon
- Mn. Josep Masdéu Aymamí, Administrator and first Trustee c/e: administrador.catedral@arqtgn.cat
- Mn. Joan Miquel Bravo Alarcón, Secretary c/e: secretaria.catedral@arqtgn.cat
- Mgr. Valentí Miserachs Grau, Honorary
- Mn. Joan Roig Montserrat, Honorary
- Mn. Víctor Montserrat Santamaria, Honorary Mgr.
- D. Alessandro Campanella, Honorary
Art and history. Spaces of the Cathedral
The cathedral
Located at the highest point of the acropolis, the highest place in the ancient city.
Diocesan Museum
Founded by Archbishop Antolín López Peláez in 1914.
Belltower
It reaches a height of 70 meters and contains 19 molten bells.
Temenos
Discover the porticoed wall that surrounded the imperial cult enclosure.
Santa Tecla la Vella
Gardens and chapel from the 13th century, where a magnificent collection of funerary art from all times is displayed.
Art and history
The cathedral is located at the highest point of the city, on what was originally the site of a Roman army barracks around which the city of Tarraco gradually developed. gradually developed. Building work began on the cathedral in 1171, when Hug de Cervelló, archbishop of Tarragona, bequeathed a sum of money in his will for its construction.
It was built on the site of the barracks and part of the sacred area of worship remaining from the time of the Roman Empire during the first century A.D., and thought by some archaeologists to feature a large square and a temple to the Emperor Augustus. From the year 475, this was the probable site of the original Visigoth cathedral, of which nothing now remains as it was demolished during the Muslim invasions of 711.
The cathedral was consecrated in 1331, when the Infante John of Aragon was Archbishop of Tarragona and Patriarch of Alexandria. Its grandiosity and solidity have earned it the reputation of the finest cathedral in Catalonia. The chapels between the buttresses on the side naves provide clues to the architectural and stylistic evolution of the cathedral as a whole.
Cathedral map
Discover the Cathedral by browsing the different sections dedicated to each space.
1. Façade
2. Central and side naves
3. Baptistery chapel
4. Chapel of Saint Michael
5. Chapel of Saint Thecla
6. Chapel of Saint Francis
7. Chapel of Saint Helen
8. Chapel of Saint Lucia
9. Chapel of the Presentation
10. Chapels on the right side of the transept
11. Chapel of Saint Olegarius
Gardens and hermitage of Santa Tecla la Vella
Belltower
12. Chancel
13. High altar
14. Main altarpiece
15. Sepulchre of John of Aragon
16. Apse and sacrarium
17. Chapel of Saint Mary or Tailors’ chapel
18. Chapel of Saint Barbara
19. Chapel of the Holy Sacrament
20. Chapel of Saints Cosmas and Damian
21. Chapel of Saint John the Evangelist
22. Former Chapel of Saint Elisabeth
23. Chapel of the Holy Burial
24. Chapel of Saint Fructuosus
25. Chapel of the Immaculate Conception
26. Chapels of the Cardona family
27. Choir stalls
28. Organ
29. Crossing
30. Cloister door
31. Cloister
Procession of the rats
32. Main Sacristy
33. Treasury
34. Chapel of the Corpus Christi
35. Chapter Room
36. Chapel of Saint Raymond
37. Chapel of Saint Mary Magdalena
38. Chapel of our Lady of Guidance
39. Chapel of our Lady of the Cloister
40. Chapel of the Holy Saviour
41. Chapel of our lady of snows
42. Former canons’ refectory
43. Audiovisual
Temenos
The archaeological works and the architectural intervention carried out between the years 2000 and 2003, allowed to bring to light a significant part of the temenos, the porticoed wall that surrounded the precinct of imperial cult dated in the 1st century BC. Located on the north side of the current cloister, this wall is formed by large stone blocks and had a series of windows (fenestrase) designed to illuminate the interior of the portico.
The face that would give the great square was decorated with large marble plaques (the lace still visible on the wall preserved inside the Diocesan Museum) while the face that gave the outside was left with the ashlars in sight. Later, in the s. XII is integrated inside the construction of the Cathedral, giving rise to a large room that still conserves the arcades and where we can appreciate one of the fenestrase turned into a door walled when constructing the gallery of the cloister.
Saint Tecla the Old
It is located in the end angle of the oriental part of the Cathedral, with a garden facing it which was the old cemetery. It was built in the first half of the XIII century.
In its interior, in an arcosolium practised in the gospel wall, we can find a white marble tomb which it is supposed to belay to the archbishop Bernat d’Olivella (+1287).
Tapestry
The most important is called Las Potestats or “The Good Life”; weaved in the 15th century in a studio in Arras (France), of large dimensions (4,65 x 10,65cm), which was donated by archbishop Gonzalo Fernandez de Heredia at the end of the century.
A piece of a Flemish tapestry from the beginning of the XV century which is complete with, two tapestries of the Joseph’s history donated by the archbishop. Alfonso of Aragon, at the beginning of the XVI century (made in Brussels in the XV century). The Cardinal Gaspar Cervantes de Gaete made a donation in his testament (1575) of different series: the four tapestries called “of vegetables” (made in Enghien o Oudenaarda, netherlands, in the XVI century), the three tapestries of David’s series (made in Brussels in the XVI century) the eight tapestries of Tobías’s series (made in Brussels in the XVI century), and five tapestries of Sonsons’s series (made in Brussels in the XVII century) .
The canon Diego Giron of Rebodello made a donation in his testament of eight tapestries of Ciro’s el Grande series (1682) (made in Brussels in the XVII century) of ten tapestries of Poverbios’s series ( made in Brussels in the XVII century) and the eight tapestries of famous woman’s the XVII century). Some of the tapestries of these two last series were inspired by Jacob Jardoens’s cartons.
The collection was completed with two coats of arms of the XVI and XVIII centuries and with a embroider mortuary cloth of Pere Anton d’ Aragon’s embroidery (made in Rome in the XVII century) from the Monastery of Poblet.
