The Cathedral of the Virgin of the Snows (, ) is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

in the city of Ibiza, Spain. Located in the '' Dalt Vila'', the historic centre of the city, it is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ibiza since 1782.

History

In 1234, the future conquerors of the island, Guillermo de Montgrí, Peter of Portugal and Nuno Sanç, signed an agreement stipulating that establishing a parish dedicated to

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

would be one of their first obligations upon conquest. As a result, the parish was established once Ibiza was taken on August 8, 1235. The existing structure is the result of numerous changes to the original building, including additions to the east side that include a trapezoidal

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

and a polygonal

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

with its five

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

s. It is a very solid building, built in the Catalan

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

style in the 16th century. In 1435, the church had five chapels, dedicated to Saint James and

Saint Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

, to Saint Tecla and Saint Anthony, to Saint John Baptist and Saint John Evangelist and to

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

and

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

. A new nave was built at the end of the 15th century, finished off with the Fonda chapel made by the Francolins in 1538. In the 18th century, the church was heavily refurbished, as a result of the bad condition of the structure. The works were directed by Jaume Espinosa and Pere Ferro, who were the ''obrers de la vila'' (Town Builders). The renovations took place between 1715 and 1728. In 1782,

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI (; born Count Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio called Giovanni Angelo or Giannangelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to hi ...

established the

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

of Ibiza and the medieval church, renovated, became the cathedral. The Diocese was eliminated between 1851 and 1949 for financial reasons. It has since been suffragan of the Archdiocese of Valencia. Today, the cathedral keeps many works of art, among which are several notable pieces: a Gothic monstrance of golden silver, made by Francesc Martí in 1399, two Gothic panels of Saint Tecla and Saint Anthony, painted by Francesc Cornes in the 14th century, and another two—from the 15th century—by the master Valentí Montoliu that represent Saint James and Saint Matthew.

References

External links

Official Ibiza tourist information website - Catedral de Ibiza - MonumentsConsell Insular d'Eivissa

{{Authority control 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

Buildings and structures in Ibiza Baroque architecture in the Balearic Islands Gothic architecture in the Balearic Islands