Minorca Cathedral

Ciutadella de Menorca Cathedral Catedral de Santa María de Ciudadela
Cathedral of Menorca
Basic information
Location	Menorca, Spain
Affiliation	Roman Catholic Church
Country	Spain
Architectural description
Architectural type	church
Architectural style	Gothic, Neoclassical
General contractor	(1300-1365)

The Cathedral Basilica of Ciutadella de Menorca is a Roman Catholic church in Ciutadella de Menorca, in the island of Menorca, in Balearic Islands, Spain. It was constructed on the orders of King Alfonso III of Aragon "the Liberal", the conqueror of the island, in 1287 on the site of an old mosque.

Construction started in 1300 and was finished in 1362, creating a building of the Catalan Gothic style, and is notable for the width of the nave, flanked by six chapels to each side. The five-sided apse is oriented to the east.

After the desecration and devastation of the cathedral by the Ottoman Empire Turks under Admiral of the Ottoman Fleet Pialí Bajá in 1558 and the collapse of the vaults of the apse in 1626, the damage was quickly repaired in the original style.

In 1795, with the restoration of the old bishopric of Menorca (which had existed at start of the 5th century) the parish church of Ciutadella came to be the cathedral of the new diocese.

Under Bishop Juano, the main façade was rebuilt in 1813 in a neoclassical style, contrasting with the Gothic style of the building, while the restored side door called the Porta de la Llum ("Portal of the Light") keeps some of its medieval ornamentation.

In the interior, the baroque chapel of the Angelus dates from the start of the 17th century with exquisitely-carved columns.

The cathedral was sacked and desecrated in the first days of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, but was restored in its current form by Bishop Bartolomé Pascual between 1939 and 1941. During this work, the Quire was moved from the nave to its current location in the apse.