La Seu Vella is the great cathedral of Lleida, begun in the thirteenth century and one of the finest Gothic structures in Catalonia. It sits on the highest point in the city, inside the walls of a later medieval castle, reached by a long ramp that climbs steeply from the old quarter. The climb is worth every step — the views from the cloister over the Segre plain and, on clear days, toward the Pyrenees are stunning.
The cathedral itself is a powerful building, its single nave soaring under Gothic vaulting, the stone worn to a beautiful warmth by centuries of use and misuse. The cloisters are particularly remarkable: large, airy, and arcaded, they look out over the city rather than inward in the usual manner. The military conversion left marks everywhere — look for the blocked arches, improvised stairways, and the general air of a building repurposed against its will. It is more interesting for all of it.