Monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of the Asturias
San Tirso Church
The Church of Saint Thyrsus (Iglesia de San Tirso) was established in the 790s. Dedicated to Saint Thyrsus, it was built by Tioda, the royal architect of Alfonso II of Asturias. The Great Fire of Oviedo in 1521 and rebuilding in the 18th century removed most of the original church, except for a three-light window. The building has suffered so much from alterations over the centuries and only the general plan has been pre ...Oviedo Cathedral
The Cathedral of San Salvador of Oviedo today displays an array of architectural styles, from Pre-Romanesque to Baroque, including Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance parts. It began as a large Pre-Romanesque basilica in the present location of the Gothic cathedral, but nothing more is known about that first building, built by order of King Alfonso II of Asturias. The cathedral was founded by King Fruela I of Astur ...Cámara Santa
The Holy chamber of Oviedo (Cámara Santa de Oviedo) is a pre-Romanesque church built next to pre-romanesque Tower of San Miguel of the city's cathedral. Nowadays, the church occupies the angle between the south arm of the cathedral transept and a side of the cloister. It was built during the 9th century as a palace chapel for King Alfonso II of Asturias and the church of San Salvador of Oviedo. Apart from acting as ro ...Monastery of San Vicente de Oviedo
San Vicente de Oviedo is a church and monastery in Oviedo. Its foundation, in 761, is recorded in a charter known as the Pacto monástico de Oviedo ('Monastic Pact of Oviedo') a copy made in the 12th-century of the original that is dated 25 November 781 and is considered the earliest document on the monarchy of the Kingdom of Asturias. Although doubts exist as to the veracity of this document since the monastery ...Santa María del Naranco Church
The church of St Mary at Mount Naranco is a pre-Romanesque Asturian building on the slope of Mount Naranco. Ramiro I of Asturias ordered it to be built as a royal palace, part of a larger complex that also incorporated the nearby church of San Miguel de Lillo, 100 meters away. The palace was completed in 842 and had in part a religious function, being consecrated in 848. Its character as a civil building changed in the 1 ...La Foncalada
La Foncalada is a fountain of potable water located outside the city walls of Oviedo; it was built by king Alfonso III of Asturias in the 9th century. This building remains the only surviving civil architectural item for public use of the Early Middle Ages. Its name was given after the inscription in Latin: fontem calatam written on it. Built in Pre-Romanesque style, it has been included with other Asturian Pre-Romanesque ...San Julian de los Prados Church
San Julián de los Prados, also known as Santullano, is a Pre-Ramirense church from the beginning of the 9th century in Oviedo, the capital city of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It is one of the greatest works of Asturian art and was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998. The church's construction was ordered by Alfonso II of Asturias and it was built by the court architect Tioda c. 830. It is dedica ...Church of San Salvador de Valdediós
The church of the Holy Savior of Valdediós (Iglesia de San Salvador de Valdediós) stands in the Boides valley (Villaviciosa), the place where Alfonso III of Asturias was detained when he was dispossessed by his sons, and where there used to be an old convent governed by the Benedictine Order, substituted in the 13th century by the Cistercians. The church known as the 'Bishops" Chapel' was consecrated ...San Miguel de Lillo Church
St. Michael of Lillo is a Roman Catholic church built on the Naranco mount, near the Church of Santa María del Naranco. It was completed in 842 and it was consecrated by Ramiro I of Asturias and his wife Paterna in the year 848. It was originally dedicated to St. Mary until this worship passed to the nearby palace in the 12th century, leaving this church dedicated to Saint Michael. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Sit ...Church of Santa Cruz de Cangas de Onís
Santa Cruz de Cangas de Onís is a small Roman Catholic chapel in Cangas de Onís, the first capital of the Kingdom of Asturias. It was founded on an artificial mound (a pagan dolmen) by Favila, second king of Asturias, and his queen, Froiliuba. It was begun in 737 and consecrated that same year on 27 October according to its original foundation stone, which has been called the first literary monument of the Reconquista. ...Santa Cristina de Lena Church
St Christine of Lena is an Asturian pre-Romanesque church located in the Lena municipality, on an old Roman road that joined the lands of the plateau with Asturias. The church has a different ground plan to Pre-Romanesque"s traditional basilica. It is a single rectangular space with a barrel vault, with four adjoining structures located in the centre of each facade. The first of these annexes is the typical Asturian ...Church of Santa María de Bendones
Santa María de Bendones is an Asturian Pre-Romanesque Roman Catholic church situated in Bendones, Spain, build between 792 and 842. The structure is similar to the church of San Julián de los Prados, although the ground plan is not the typical basilica of the Pre-Romanesque churches, but has three enclosures at the western end, the central one as an entrance vestibule and two side areas possibly to house pari ...Church of San Pedro de Nora
Saint Peter of Nora (Iglesia de San Pedro de Nora) is recorded for the first time in a donation document of Alfonso III of Asturias in 905. Given its similarities with the church of San Julián de los Prados and the church of Santa María de Bendones, it was probably built in the times of Alfonso II of Asturias. Declared National Monument in 1931, the church burnt in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War losing the roo ...Church of San Salvador de Priesca
Holy Saviour of Priesca (Iglesia de San Salvador de Priesca) is a pre-romanesque church, located in Priesca, next to Villaviciosa. Only a few kilometres from the Church of San Salvador de Valdediós, it is amongst the latest examples of Asturian architecture. With Alfonso III dead and the kingdom of Asturias divided among his sons, Asturian pre-romanesque architecture entered its last stage. Consecrated on September 24, ...Church of San Juan Apóstol y Evangelista
St. John Apostle and Evangelist (Iglesia de San Juan Apóstol y Evangelista) is a Roman Catholic Asturian pre-Romanesque church situated in Santianes de Pravia. The church contains a foundation stone in the form of a letter labyrinth ('Silo Princeps Fecit') that records the 8th-century founding of the church by King Silo of Asturias. The inscription Silo princeps fecit singularly combined in fifteen horizonta ...Church of Santo Adriano de Tuñón
The Church of Santo Adriano de Tuñón is located on the bank of the River Trubia, next to an old Roman road. Founded on January 24, 891, by Alfonso III of Asturias and his wife Jimena of Navarra as a monastery church, it went through large transformations at the beginnings of the 12th century. It was declared a Spanish national monument in June 1931. The church stands on a classic basilica ground plan, althoug ...Church of Santiago de Gobiendes
Saint James of Gobiendes (Iglesia de Santiago de Gobiendes) is a Roman Catholic pre-romanesque church, located in Gobiendes, next to Colunga. It was built during the reign of Alfonso II of Asturias, its structure is typical of pre-romanesque Asturian architecture. It underwent through an important remodeling in 1853, being further restored in 1946 and in 1983.Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
Historic Site of the week
Broch of Gurness
The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.
The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick. The tower was likely inhabited by the principal family or clan of the area but also served as a last resort for the village in case of an attack.
The broch continued to be inhabited while it began to collapse and the original structures were altered. The cistern was filled in and the interior was repartitioned. The ruin visible today reflects this secondary phase of the broch's use.
The site is surrounded by three ditches cut out of the rock with stone ramparts, encircling an area of around 45 metres diameter. The remains of numerous small stone dwellings with small yards and sheds can be found between the inner ditch and the tower. These were built after the tower, but were a part of the settlement's initial conception. A 'main street' connects the outer entrance to the broch. The settlement is the best-preserved of all broch villages.
Pieces of a Roman amphora dating to before 60 AD were found here, lending weight to the record that a 'King of Orkney' submitted to Emperor Claudius at Colchester in 43 AD.
At some point after 100 AD the broch was abandoned and the ditches filled in. It is thought that settlement at the broch continued into the 5th century AD, the period known as Pictish times. By that time the broch was not used anymore and some of its stones were reused to build smaller dwellings on top of the earlier buildings. Until about the 8th century, the site was just a single farmstead.
In the 9th century, a Norse woman was buried at the site in a stone-lined grave with two bronze brooches and a sickle and knife made from iron. Other finds suggest that Norse men were buried here too.