The current building, begun in the twelfth century, is a Latin cross church featuring various architectural styles (Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque) with an interior cloister giving access to the Episcopal Palace. A building with an amalgamation of styles and shapes configured over the centuries.
Mondoñedo's cathedral is built on the site of the old church and monastery of Santa María. Its construction dates back to the thirteenth century although the Episcopal See was established in Mondoñedo in 1112; however, for various reasons, including its brief transfer to Ribadeo between 1185 and 1219, the works were not carried out until later. 
Bishop Don Martín eventually brought the work to a successful conclusion: indeed, it is said that it was he who built, finished and consecrated it.

The consecration probably took place on 19th or 20th October, 1242, since the following year the bishop requested his retirement and it is assumed that this request would have been submitted to Rome after work was finished on the church. However, Rome did not grant him retirement until years later. 
This early construction was realised thanks to episcopal, public and royal contributions, these latter from the monarchs León Alfonso IX and Fernando III. It was a low building, with a central nave higher than the lateral ones and two round towers, one on each side of the main façade. This was the original physiognomy of the building but it would change little by little over the centuries until taking on the form it currently has today. 


The church's great exterior emblem is its large circular rose window, a work that dates back to the thirteenth century and enables light to enter the temple illuminating, today, the large interior stained-glass window with its depiction of Christ. 
The difference in heights between the central nave and the lateral ones was addressed in the fourteenth century, elevating the latter to same height as the former and thus giving it a more uniform external appearance.
Until the sixteenth century no further works would be carried out on the church's exterior, until Bishop Diego de Soto's initiative. This consisted in narrowing the church's main façade and closing it off, giving rise to a small square that would separate the entrance of the cathedral from the rest of the square and that would remain in place well into the twentieth century. This closure was made of stone at the front and iron to the sides. It had access doors in its sides. 
In 1503, the cathedral already had a clock that would be changed in 1585.
The eighteenth century saw the biggest change to the cathedral's façade, with two new towers being built to replace the previous round, low ones. These new towers were square and 35 metres high. In 1718 the first (the one on the left) was inaugurated and in 1720 the second (the one on the right).

The last exterior reform took place in the twentieth century (1968) and affected the cathedral's entrance and the square that opens out in front of it. In these works the closed off part that had been in place since the sixteenth century was eliminated, and the square lowered to the same height as the façade. The front corners were retracted, leaving only the arcades under the houses that surround the square. 
In its current state the interior consists of a large central nave, open from the entrance to the main altar, and two minor side naves that run the entire perimeter of the church, joining behind the main altar in an ambulatory The arms of the transept house part of the wooden choir and the current organ (left) and a place for the faithful and entrance to the cloister (right).
This is the appearance that greets us when we enter Mondoñedo's cathedral today, but it is a view that has been in the making since the thirteenth century.

The church has been growing since the beginning of the current construction of the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament located in the right side nave beyond the transept. Formerly, this chapel was known as that of the Magdalene. It is a small chapel with a golden altarpiece and altar presided over by a Christ where the sacred forms are kept. In this same church, we also find the English Virgin, brought from the Cathedral of London in the sixteenth century owing to the religious struggles that were taking place there. The chapel is closed by a large iron gate at its entrance. 
In the fifteenth century, an important interior reform took place with the transfer of the choir, which was originally in front of the High Altar, to the central nave (in the gap between the first four columns). This choir was made of stone and enclosed by walls that were decorated with murals by an unknown artist. The remains of them can be seen today on both sides of the central nave, under the organs.
During the following century (XVI) the reforms continued with the creation of new spaces such as the Sacristy and the Chapter House. In addition, the ambulatory was built behind the high altar, eliminating the retrochoir. 
In the same period, the old stone choir was replaced by a flamboyant Gothic-style wooden choir that remains in place to this day. Its construction was carried out between 1513 and 1520 by order of Bishop Diego Pérez de Villamuriel.
Along with all these reforms, the high altar was equipped with a new altarpiece that preceded the current one. 
The cathedral had had a cloister since ancient times, but in the seventeenth century (1636) this was reformed, to give it its current appearance. It has 20 semicircular neoclassical style Tuscan order arches, and today has a calvary at its centre. Access is via the end of the right arm of the transept. 
In this century, the reliquary and altar of San Rosendo were built behind the main altar, in the centre of the ambulatory. 


At present, in front of this altar, there are four open chapels lining the ambulatory. From right to left, the first two are dedicated to San Francisco and the Christ of Good Death respectively; the third is known as the Chapel of Álvaro Pérez or Santa Ana because its altarpiece is dedicated to this latter, and the last is known as the Ecce Homo Chapel.
During the eighteenth century, a series of reforms were carried out which left the cathedral looking very much like it does today. Until that century, the presbytery was enclosed by walls, but works saw two arches opened in the walls and fenced across with iron bars and, in 1769, the high altar was endowed with a new Rococo-style altarpiece that is still in place today. But these were not the only reforms. Reforms also took place in the central nave with the placement of two new organs - one in 1714 and another in 1722 - and the two half transepts to the left and right were completed in 1790.
During the nineteenth century, an almost total overhaul of the cathedral's organs took place, between 1862 and 1866. Also in this century (1863), the murals that can be seen today below the organs were discovered; they had been covered over and there was no recollection of them. 
Little else remains to be said about the inner evolution of the cathedral, except the transfer of the choir to the left arm of the transept and the creation of a new open central nave, just as we can see it today.


This temple was declared a National Monument in 1902 and in 1962 Xoán XXIII elevates the Cathedral to the category of Minor Basilica. In 2015, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Today you can visit with audio guides that facilitate a complete tour in about 45 minutes.

Opening hours are Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 18:30 and Sundays from 10:00 to 20:00.