Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned: Gibraltar’s Catholic Cathedral
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Modern
- Civilizations
- British, Crown of Castile
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Cathedral
On this page9 sections
History
Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned is a Latin Catholic cathedral in Gibraltar and the principal centre of Catholic worship in the Diocese of Gibraltar, a territorial jurisdiction overseen by a bishop. Founded and dedicated on 20 August 1462 during the Spanish period, it was established under the Catholic Monarchs, Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. Its former name was Santa Maria la Coronada y San Bernardo.
Foundation after the Christian reconquest
Immediately after Gibraltar was recovered from Muslim rule, the city’s principal mosque was converted into a Catholic parish church. Under the Catholic Monarchs, that earlier building was demolished and replaced by a new Gothic church. Gothic architecture is associated with medieval pointed arches and strongly vertical forms. Catholic worship continued at the site, which became the cathedral’s historical foundation.
Survival, siege, and reconstruction
When troops took Gibraltar in 1704, the church was the only Catholic church or institution in the city that was not ransacked or profaned. Its pastor, Juan Romero, acted with his curate and bell-ringer to protect it. Catholic worship is described as having continued there without interruption since the definitive Christian reconquest.
The building suffered severe damage during the Great Siege of Gibraltar, the Spanish and French assault on British-held Gibraltar from 1779 to 1783. In 1790, Governor Sir Robert Boyd offered to rebuild the cathedral in return for part of its original land, allowing Main Street to be rerouted. The street was made straighter in 1801, an alteration also associated with Governor Charles O’Hara. Reconstruction followed in 1810 and was accompanied by further changes to the street.
Church authority and later history
Until the nineteenth century, people who died in Gibraltar had the right to be buried beneath the cathedral floor. Bishops were buried in a crypt, an underground burial chamber, beneath the statue of Our Lady of Europe, a Catholic title for the Virgin Mary.
A dispute over control of the church led to nearly fifty arrests on 2 March 1881. Bishop Canilla was attempting to enter and assume his position against a self-appointed Committee of Elders, which intended to install its own chief priest. About 200 men occupied the church. The governor directed the police and reassigned soldiers to support the bishop, while officers arrested about fifty people to restore order. The governor later arranged for the title deeds to be transferred to Canilla.
Restoration in 1931 produced the present west façade. The cathedral remains an active Catholic institution.
Remains
The cathedral combines the site of Gibraltar’s former principal mosque with the surviving fabric of a later church. The present building is constructed of brick and has a mixed architectural character, bringing together Neoclassical elements drawn from Greek and Roman models with Neo-Romanesque forms that revive rounded arches and massive Romanesque shapes. Its arrangement and surviving features reflect repeated rebuilding and changes to the adjoining street.
Remnants of the mosque and cathedral site
Former mosque courtyard
A small courtyard survives as a remnant of the mosque’s larger Moorish court, also described as its ablution courtyard. The coat of arms of the Catholic Monarchs was placed there and remains visible, linking the courtyard to the transformation of the site after the Christian reconquest.
Cathedral building and façades
Before the modern reconfiguration of Main Street, the cathedral extended to the opposite side of the road. Its principal façade faced Main Street. The façade built during the 1810 reconstruction was replaced by the present west façade in 1931, when the building was restored.
Clock tower and commemorative remains
A clock tower was added in 1820. In 1943, the coffin of Władysław Sikorski lay in state in the cathedral after his aircraft crashed into the sea near Gibraltar. Sikorski was a Polish general and political leader who served as prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile during the Second World War.
Nearby sites
