Monastery of San Vicente de Oviedo

Oviedo, Spain

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, also called Antealtares in the Middle Ages, is not mentioned again until 969. According to the charter of 781, twenty years before, in 761, the monks Máximo, with his serfs, and Fromestano, founded a church in locum quod dicunt Oveto (the place called Oveto), which was to become the city of Oviedo.

Transformed into a monastery, the first abbot was Oveco, documented between 969 and 978, and the first reference mentioning that it followed the Benedictine Rule is dated in 1042.

The style of the building is Romanesque, although reworked in the 11th and 12th centuries. Its cloister is an official National Historic and Artistic Monument and since 1952 houses the Archaeological Museum of Asturias.

The Archaeological Museum of Asturias

The Archaeological Museum of Asturias hosts collections of the Asturian Neolithic, Megalithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Astur hill fort culture, Roman period, and of the Gothic, Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque periods of the Kingdom of Asturias. The museum also includes sections of Asturian Ethnography, Heraldry, Medieval and Modern Epigraphy, Spanish Numismatics, a European Medal Section, and Armor.

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Founded: 761 AD
Category: Religious sites in Spain

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User Reviews

Ladelamanofurada (6 months ago)
Monastery of San Vicente d'Uviéu (781), on San Vicente street (Uviéu, Asturies). Monastery founded on November 25, 781 on the hill of Ouetum by 26 monks - shortly after assigned to the rule of Saint Benedict -, having as founding patrons members of the reigning Asturian-Visigothic dynasty; place where in 761 the abbot Frómista and his nephew the monk Máximus arrived to found the basilica dedicated to San Vicente - a deacon from Huesca martyred in Valencia in 304 by order of the Roman praefect Publius Dacian, governor of Lusitania (286-293) and Hispania Citerior ( 305), under the emperor Diocletian (284-305) -, an important crossroads where shortly Fruela I (722-768), king of Asturies (757-768) built a basilica to the Savior and built a royal palace, although the court continued in his native Cangues d'Onís. In the ss. XII-XIII, connected to the church-cathedral of San Salvador and subject to the bishop of Uviéu, it was rebuilt in Romanesque fashion, thanks to large donations from the high nobility. Centuries, artistic reforms and expansions followed, reaching the wall of Paraíso Street in the 19th century. XVII - L-shaped floor space that is today occupied by the Faculty of Psychology. In 1836 he was exclaustrated by the government of the exalted and anticlerical liberal from Cádiz Juan de Dios Álvarez Méndez - a surname that he changed in Mendizábal to pass as Basque (he said he was born in Bilbao, although he was born in Chiclana de la Frontera) and hide his Judaizing origin. maximum representation of the greed of the bourgeoisie -which once again deceived the people-, since it was the richest monastery in Asturies. Today, apart from the parish Church of Santa María de la Corte, the Archaeological Museum of Asturies and the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Oviedo occupy their state-owned spaces.
Lloyd De Jongh (7 months ago)
This monastery, the home of Oviedo Archaeological Museum, has amazing architecture and history. The Archaeological Museum of Asturias is located in the 16th century Benedictine monastery of Saint Vicente in Oviedo, Asturias. The museum's exhibition is well-organized, and its bilingual signs describe the detailed history of the region of Asturias, from the Roman period to the Asturian dynasty that founded Oviedo. The museum takes an Asturian lens to prehistoric, Roman, and medieval history, and visitors can learn about Neanderthals, prehistoric mining, and Roman burials. The captions are in Spanish, but visitors can ask for an English version from the reception desk. The museum is accessible and child-friendly. Visitors can also explore som of the old monastic buildings that now house the museum. The museum is free to enter. San Vicente Monastery, part of the Oviedo Archaeological Museum, is a fascinating and informative destination for those interested in the history of Asturias.
Joel (14 months ago)
Mari Rodri (2 years ago)
Julio Enrique Muñoz Ponce de León (3 years ago)
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