The bishopric’s jurisdiction extends to 408 parishes, although today some have a very reduced population. Almost all of the parishes come from distant times, as the very [[Titulus (Roman Catholic)|titular]] saints of their churches. The most common are [[Saint Mary]] (in 90 parochial churches, as well as the [[cathedral]]), [[Saint Peter]] (35), [[Martin of Braga|Saint Martin]] (29), (24), [[Saint Steven]] (23), [[Saint Michael]] (19), [[Saint Andrew]] (17), [[Julian of Toledo|Saint Julian]] (12), (11), [[Vincent of Saragossa|Saint Vincent]] and [[Felix of Girona|Saint Felix]] (10). Many churches of the [[Diocese|bishopric]], parochial or not, conserve elements of great architectural interest, and thirty-six of them are considered cultural goods of [[national interest]] in [[Spain]].
Amongst all Catalonian bishoprics, the Diocese of Urgell has been that which has experienced the most border-related changes throughout its existence, mainly for political reasons: the loss of [[Alta Ribagorça|Ribagorça]] (9th century), to the benefit of the [[...|Diocese of Roda]], and the cession of 144 parishes of the [[Berguedà]], the [[Solsonès]] and a part of the Segarra, to the benefit of the new diocese of Solsona (1593-1623); later, it was necessary to adapt the territory to the borders between states, and thus in 1803, the 24 parishes of [[French Cerdagne]], which had been ceded to France from the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, also passed ecclesiastically to that country; and in 1804, the 28 from the [[Aran Valley]], a territory circumscribed by [[France]] yet united fully to the Catalan-Aragonese territories at least since the 12th century, were annexed to the diocese of Urgell, coming from the eliminated [[Gascony|Gascon]] diocese of [[Sant Bertran de Comenge]]. In 1874 the sixty-odd towns that formed the erstwhile exempt jurisdictions of [[Gerri]], , [[Montodó-Bonrepòs]], the order of [[Saint John of Jerusalem]] and [[Meià]] were annexed to the diocese. Finally, in 1956, the diocese gained the seven parishes of the [[Artesa de Segre]] enclave and gave up the 19 of the [[Franja de Ponent]] [Western Strip] to [[Lleida]] and [[Barbastre]], grouped into three enclaves.
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[[Monasticism]] must have been introduced into the diocese during the [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] period. The monasteries of [[Tavèrnoles]], [[Gerri]], [[Codinet]], and [[Tresponts]] are probably anterior to the Saracen invasion. These foundations and the later ones--[[la Vedella]], [[Elins]], [[Bagà]], [[la Portella]], [[les Maleses]], [[Villanega]], [[Oveix]], [[Bellera]], [[el Burgal]], [[Lavaix]], [[Alaó]], [[Escales]], [[Ovarra]], [[Taverna]], [[Gualter]], etc.--often adopted the Benedictine observance from the 9th century on, following the example of the majority of the coenobitic monasteries then extant in the [[Marca Hispanica]]. This became the norm for monastic life in the following century. These monasteries, alongside the parochial and canonical organization (the Urgell Diocese, [[Solsona, Lleida|]], [[Cardona, Spain|]], [[Organyà]], [[Ponts]], [[Àger|Ager]], , [[Tremp]]) would greatly influence the Christianization of the country and in its human, cultural and economic development.
The [[...|canonical]] monasteries derived into colleges as a result of their [[secularization]] (1592), and due to their corruption, the 1851 concord eliminated them, along with the other preexisting ones ([[Castellbò]], [[Guissona]], [[Balaguer]]). Mur and Àger were without a doubt the most famous Catalan canonical colleges, exempt from episcopal jurisdiction
