Orihuela Cathedral Orihuela Cathedral Orihuela Cathedral ("Catedral de Orihuela") is the main Roman Catholic church of Orihuela, Valencian Community, southern Spain. It was built above a pre-existing Muslim mosque as a simple parish church, and was later converted into main church by order of King Alfonso X of Castile in 1281. In 1413, pope Benedict XIII elevated it to the rank of collegiate, until it become a cathedral in 1510. Construction was begun in the late 13th century in Valencian Gothic style, with a Latin cross plan including a nave and two aisles, an ambulatory and chapels within buttresses. The crossing, the
Persecution of Christians in the Eastern Bloc been closed or converted to other uses. The Roman Catholic cathedral in Shkodër became a sports arena and several Bektashi tekkes, including the headquarters in Tirana, became retirement homes. After the fall of Communism there were only three churches in Tirana; thirty of the most famous churches in the country survived by being marked for historical preservation. The 18th century Edhem Bey Mosque in Tirana was also protected as a cultural monument, but only foreign diplomats were allowed to pray there. Of 1,050 mosques in Albania before 1967, 800 survived to the fall of Communism, but most were damaged and