The privileged location of the city of Lleida has promoted that since the beginning of history the territory has been occupied by different civilizations. The Iberian tribe of the
Ilergetes occupied the lands of Lleida in the 6th century BC. The best known Ilergete chieftains were
Indíbil and Mandoni , who were defeated by the Romans in 205 BC
At that time, Iltrida was renamed Ilerda and became a
fortified town with an important stone bridge over the river Segre. Later, Ilerda was inhabited by Arabs for four centuries and was conquered by Ramon Berenguer IV and Ermengol VI de
Urgell in 1149.
In 1300, Lleida experienced a moment of splendor when Jaume II established the
Estudi General in the city, the only higher education center of the crown of Aragon until the end of the 15th century.
The largest and most characteristic heritage element of Lleida is
La Seu Vella , a religious building, consecrated to Santa Maria, built on the hill of Lleida in the 13th century, in the same place where there had been a previous mosque. La Seu Vella defines the profile of the city from a distance and its silhouette is recognized by all Lleida residents, as a symbol of the land from which they come. The bell tower, 60 meters high (14th-15th century) and the 14th century cloister stand out. Next to La Seu are the remains of
the Suda, a fortified palace raised above an old Andalusian fortress. Climbing the Seu hill is a must for those who want to enjoy the best views of the city.
Going down to the old town, if you take the main street, you will discover the
Palau de la Paeria (13th century), today the seat of the town hall. The palace was ceded to the city by the lords of Borges Blanques in 1383. This palace is a capital work of the
Catalan Civil Gothic . The facade facing the Segre is of neoclassical style and was rebuilt in the 19th century. The interior of the palace reveals different treasures such as the
15th century Gothic altarpiece of the Virgin of the Fathers by Jaume Ferrer II . On the other hand, la
Morra is a 15th century dungeon where prisoners sentenced to death were confined and which preserves the engravings on the walls made by the prisoners during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Paeria houses the
Municipal Archive, which still preserves the Carta Pobla, from 1150, which documents the first constitution of the inhabitants of the lands of Lleida.
In the cathedral square is
La SeuNew, built between 1761 and 1781 with the contributions of Lleida residents, baroque style with a tendency towards French academic classicism. This cathedral is located in the commercial center and right in front of the old
Santa Maria Hospital . The Santa Maria Hospital is a Gothic-Plateresque construction from the 15th-16th centuries. This building housed a hospital for many years and is currently the headquarters of the Ilerdencs Institute. During the 20th century, it was proposed to move the building because it covered the view of the new cathedral, with the argument that it was a building of little artistic value. In order to avoid its demolition, it was declared an architectural artistic monument and was given to the Institute of Ilerdencs Studies. The construction of the Santa Maria Hospital was approved in 1445 to group the functions of the seven private hospitals, which were scattered around the city, in order to offer better care to the poor and sick.
The
Church of Sant Lloreç Mártir , is the second most important in the city, after La Seu Vella, in Romanesque style from the 12th century with extensions from the Gothic period. This church was the seat of the cathedral on two occasions. Inside the temple,
four important Gothic altarpieces are preserved: that of Sant Llorenç, Santa Úrsula, Sant Pere and Santa Llúcia.
On the other hand, there is the
Church of Sant Martí (12th century), in Romanesque style and which has had different functions throughout history: parish of the General Study of Lleida, military barracks duringthe War of the Reapers or municipal prison. Closer to our times, in 1997 the consortium of the Museu Diocesà de Lleida was formed and it was decided that the church would serve as its temporary headquarters until the inauguration of the new museum in 2007.
To the south-east of the city, on the hill of Gardeny, a walled enclosure houses the walls of what used to be the
Templar Castle of Gardeny . Parts of the walls, a room tower with a tribute tower and the Romanesque Church of Santa Maria de Gardeny are preserved. This castle was built during the second half of the 12th century after the Order of the Templars helped in the reconquest of Lleida, in 1149, and received the hill of Gardeny as a reward. It is one of the exponents of Templar architecture along with the castle of
Miravet, Monsó, Penyíscola and
Tortosa, which are part of the
Domus Templi route .
The
former Seminary of Lleida was created in 1563 as an ecclesiastical educational institution for the training of young aspiring priests. In 1978, the building was reorganized as the rectory of the nascent University of Lleida.
The statue of Indíbil and Mandoni is an academic work of Lleida included in the Inventory of the Architectural Heritage of Catalonia. Dated in 1946 by the
Barcelona sculptor Medard Santmartí. It is a sculptural group in bronze located in Plaça Agelet i Garriga in Lleida, under the arch of the Pont, the old entrance to the city, built in the 18th century. The warriors, armedwith chains, a spear and a falcata (the characteristic sword of the Iberians) represent Indíbilus and Mandoni, two Ilergete chieftains who defended Lleida from the attacks of the Carthaginians and the Romans, preventing the city from being razed to the ground.
The Old Bridge was in ancient times the only bridge that connected Lleida with the other side of the Segre River. It is known that the bridge that was there was built in 46 BC Little is known about what the bridge was like at that time, but at the time of the Christian reconquest we do find references and it is known that it was made of stone and had 6 arches and 7 pillars This bridge was 7 meters wide for traffic and lasted until 1866. The flood of 1866 took away part of the bridge, among other tragedies, and in 1875 a new bridge was inaugurated that would last until in 1907, when another flood would take it away. In 1911, a new 10-metre-wide bridge would be inaugurated, which would end up dynamited 27 years later. In 1939, a temporary wooden bridge was built and in 1944, the inauguration of what we know as Pont Vell, designed by engineers Amalio Hidalgo Fernández, Jacinto Julio González and Victoriano Muñoz Homs from Lleida, took place. It was built by Marcelí
Llagostera and has proven its resistance ever since, as the floods of 1966 and 1982 put it to the test.
Lleida Train Station is a building of neoclassical inspiration from 1927. This station, of monumental dimensions and of great artistic interest, was built over the old railway station from Barcelona to Zaragoza.
If you spend a few days in Lleida, enjoy all the services offered by a modern city. You have an auditorium, theater, library, cinema and so many other services that you will need many days to discover them all.
We recommend a walk through the
Champs Elysees, an urban park in the city of Lleida located in Cappont. The park is divided into French and English romantic garden areas, built on wooded grounds. It is a work included in the
Inventory of the Architectural Heritage of Catalonia and the
bandstand is also protected as a
cultural asset of local interest. It is a park closed in its borders, unfinished and in continuous transformation and which has different accesses and buildings: the school of the Champs Elysees, the Theatre, the Aquarium, the Cafe-Theatre and the Temple of Music . The park opened its doors in 1864 after, in 1860, a few people from Lleida decided to do this project in the city. Emblematic festivals of the city such as the
Aplec del Caragol, the Sant Miquel Agricultural Fair and the April Fair, among others, take place in Parc dels Camps Elisis.
You also can't miss the
Parc de la Mitjana de Lleida, a natural area that stretches across the city limits. It is a river-type wetland with an approximate surface area of 90 ha, declared an
Area of Natural Interest in 1979. The main element of the park is
water , which favors a microclimate and diverse vegetation. The park is a good place to walk through its walkways and bridges, play sports and observe the fauna and flora of this bubble of fresh air in the city.
Do you know the Teatre de l'Escorxador?, do you know why it's called that? The
Teatre Municipal de l'Escorxador is a theatre, located on Carrer Lluís Companys in Lleida, which occupies what used to be the old building of the city's slaughterhouse. The building is notable for its surprising modernist-art nouveau architecture, unusual for a former slaughterhouse, the work of the architect born in
Tarragona, Francesc de Paula Morera i Gatell. The demolition of the wall of Lleida in 1861 caused the city to be projected in other spaces and so it was that in 1872, the architect Agapito would design a new slaughterhouse, on the land that had been occupied by a previous .XVIII, taking advantage of the stones of the nuralles in its construction. In 1912, the architect Morera i Gatell built next to it the architectural ensemble that has survived to this day. The Slaughterhouse closed in 1984, but the Lleida City Council started a restoration and remodeling project, in charge of the architect Ezequiel Usón, which would end up turning it into the current municipal theater.
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