In 1956 a group of worthy citizens asked permission of the Bishop and the Cathedral Chapter to organise an exhibition with the "Cathedral Treasure" which would be open to the public. This was a magnificent collection of images and other liturgical objects of incomparable archaeological and artistic value, but practically unknown to the general public.

The initiative was welcomed and granted ample facilities; and so, during Easter week in 1957, the "Exhibition of Sacred Art" was opened to the public in the Chapterhouse itself. For more than 15 days, citizens and people from outside flocked to admire the valuable contents of this Treasure.

The success of this venture inspired the creation of a permanent Museum. And so, on August 7th the same year, the Bishop, Dr. Iglesias, decreed the constitution of the Diocesan Museum of Urgell. The following year, various priceless panels of wall painting were placed on the centuries old walls of the Romanesque church of St Peter, more popularly known as St Michael, whilst the Renaissance church of the Pietà was rehabilitated as a suitably ordered and elegant setting for the heritage of our Museum.

However, that period was living through a simultaneous socioeconomic phenomenon of vital importance: the progressive abandoning of the high mountain zones, which meant that most of the villages were left empty and, as a consequence, a large number of artistic materials were in danger of being lost or destroyed. In the face of this, the Diocesan Committee for the Artistic Heritage, which had taken on the management of the Museum, took charge of collecting the most neglected materials, and so, within five years, over a hundred artistic objects from various places in the Diocese entered the Museum.

And this is now the permanent contents of the Museum. It is a magnificent collections of works of art ranging from the 10th to the 18th century; a true Anthology of all the historical styles which have appeared over those centuries, from Moorish symbolism to Baroque opulence. Recently, so as to provide a more worthy and instructive background to the artistic pieces, the Museum has been enlarged with the refurbishing of the old Deanery, the link between the Church of Mercy and St. Michael's. Work was carried out under the supervision of the architect Lluís M. Vidal i Arderiu. From this historic building, there are splendid views of the cloister and the cathedral.