The cathedral chapter ordered a new building in 1193, and King Peter II of Aragon and Count Ermengol VII of Urgell laid the first stone on July 22, 1203. Master builder Pere de Coma led the work. It was consecrated on October 31, 1278. The style is a transition from Romanesque to Gothic, a Latin-cross basilica with a nave and two aisles. The article names no materials. An earlier cathedral on the site became a mosque in 832, and was reconsecrated in 1149.
The octagonal bell tower, started in the 14th century and finished in 1431, is 197 feet (60 m) high with 238 steps. The cloister has 17 different Gothic windows.
Philip V's troops took the city in 1707 and turned the cathedral into barracks. Restoration began in 1950. It is a Spanish monument since 1918 and drew 63,728 visitors in 2025.
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