San Miguel de Lillo Church, Oviedo, Spain

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 Site since 1985.

It originally had a basilica ground plan, three aisles with a barrel vault, although part of the original structure has disappeared as the building collapsed during the 12th or 13th century. Nowadays, it conserves its western half from that period, together with several elements in the rest of the church such as the fantastic jambs in the vestibule or the extraordinary lattice on the window of the southern wall, sculpted from one single piece of stone.

References:

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User Reviews

Paloma Fenor (2 years ago)
Just beautiful!

Rhea Thoppil (2 years ago)
Beautiful!

Yuri Perez (2 years ago)
Very well preserved pre-Romanic church. A specialist-guided tour is available in Spanish every half an hour or so, for €4/ adult and £3/ child. The tour is provided along with that of Santa Maria del Naranco. The guide will walk you through architectural, historical nuances in detail. Very interesting

Rob Carter (2 years ago)
One word. Beautiful. A must visit. Go early

Angelo Vassallo (3 years ago)
Other roman church in good shape

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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.

San Miguel de Lillo Church

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