Located in Saint Francesc square, the church of Sant Pere de Lleida (Saint Peter of Lleida) was built in 1731. It was the church of the Convent of the Franciscans (1217), and later, parish of the Lleida military. That is why Gaspar de Portolà, first governor of California, and benefactor of Lleida, was buried here in 1786.
In 1854 the church was closed to worship. The lower side was used to the sale of tobacco and stamped effects, and the upper side, for offices for the Provincial Council of Lleida. In 1892 the State returned the church to the Diocese of Lleida and Bishop Messeguer turned it into the new parish of Sant Pere.
Set on fire during the Civil War, it was rebuilt in 1944, opening once again for worship. Then, the baroque portal designed with the influence of the Italian architect Francesc Borromini was incorporated, taken from the old church of the Convent de l'Ensenyança (Convent of Teaching). There is the coat of arms of Bishop Gregori Galindo, founder of l'Ensenyança school, with the cross and the symbols of the Passion. In the inside, structured in three naves, two chapels are find: on the left, the gospel where the Tabernacle is located, and on the right, the epistle dedicated to the blessed Francesc Castelló, declared martyr in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. The altar dates from 1893 and the mural that presides over it, with an image of Saint Peter, was made in 1852 by Josep Serra Santa.
The church's devotion to Our Lady of the Arcada should also be highlighted. On the right of the altar, there is a polychrome wooden sculpture from the 16th - 17th centuries, about seventy centimeters high, which was restored by the sculptor José Balcells and Sensil. And outside, on the side facing Major street, there is her postmodernist image in stone, a work of 1961 carried out by Inocenci Soriano-Montagut (1893-1979).
Schedule of masses
- Working days: 12:00 p.m.
- Saturdays and Vigils: 7:00 p.m
- Sundays and holidays: at 11:00 a.m. from October 1st to June 30th; at 12:00 a.m. from July 1st to September 30th.
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
July - August - September
- From Monday to Saturday (except holidays): from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Observations
- Open all day.
- The Parish of Sant Pere Apostol is part of the Diocese of Lleida
- It has a crypt with 1.650 urns, making it the largest cemetery in Catalonia within a church.