The New Cathedral in Lleida is impressive, and interesting, but the old Cathedral is remarkable, and stays in the memory.
This was the best I could do to capture the frontage because the street is very narrow here.
New Cathedral
The New Cathedral, the Cathedral of the Assumption, was built between 1761-1782. It was built because the Old Cathedral had been converted into a fortress and garrison, 1707, during the War of Spanish Succession.
Francesc Castello
This young man was one of the many martyrs during the Spanish Civil War.The Republicans killed over 6,800 Catholic clergy and laypeople, and over 2,300 have been beatified.
Francesc Castello was an engineer in Barcelona and a founder member of the Catholic Movement in the city. This was a political movement and very conservative.1 During the Spanish Civil War he, and eight of his colleagues, were tortured and imprisoned in Lleida. He was executed (shot) in 1936, and beatified in 2001. He wrote a very moving last letter to his fiancee which begins:
“My dearest Mariona: Our lives have been joined together, and God has chosen to separate them. To Him I offer, with all possible intensity, the love I have for you, my intense, pure, and sincere love.
I feel for your misfortune, not my own. Be proud, two brothers and your fiancé. Poor Mariona…”.2
It was our first day in Lleida and we decided to take it slowly.
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