A cathedral is a church that contains the cathedra of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches. Church buildings embodying the functions of a cathedral first appeared in Italy, Gaul, Spain, and North Africa in the 4th century, but cathedrals did not become universal within the Western Catholic Church until the 12th century, by which time they had developed architectural forms, institutional structures, and legal identities distinct from parish churches, monastic churches, and episcopal residences. The cathedral is more important in the hierarchy than the church because it is from the cathedral that the bishop governs the area under his or her administrative authority.
São Paulo Cathedral in Brazil is a representative modern cathedral built in Neo-Gothic style.
The cathedra of the Pope as Bishop of Rome, Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran
Etchmiadzin cathedral in Vagarshapat, Armenia, believed to be the oldest cathedral in the world.
The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta is a Catholic cathedral in Nepi, Italy
A cathedra is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term cathedral became synonymous with the "seat", or principal church, of a bishopric.
The cathedra of the Pope in the apse of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome
Modern cathedra at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles
Cathedra (19th century) showing arms of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, at the Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania)
Bernini's massive sculptural reliquary for the Cathedra Petri, the "Chair of Peter", is in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, and placed above and behind one of the altars