After the conquest of the Muslim city of Larida in 1149 by the Catalan counts Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona and Ermengol VI of Urgell, the need arose to build a cathedral. In 1203 the first stone was placed, although the work would stretch well into the 15th century, when the large spaces were constructed: the church, cloister, bell tower and Canonical House. The centuries of the Gothic period and the early decades of the 16th century were its highest moments of splendour. It was not the same in the following centuries.
During the Catalan Revolt (1640) it was used as a hospital and armoury. In 1707, as part of the War of Succession, it was closed for worship by order of Philip V and was soon after transformed into military barracks. With the exception of the bell tower, all its spaces were subdivided by the construction of different floors, while an important part of its patrimony was mutilated, sandwiched together, desecrated or burned.
With the advent of the Peninsular War (1810) further losses and mutilations would occur, and despite being declared a historic-artistic monument in 1918, the cathedral would become a concentration camp during the Civil War (1936) and barracks until 1948. Then a new phase of recovery and restoration began.