Oviedo, with about 220,000 inhabitants, is the capital of the principality of Asturias. It is an elegant, green and orderly city, with a pedestrian old town full of statues and a calm atmosphere. Every year it hosts the Princess of Asturias Awards ceremony, among the most prestigious honours in the Spanish-speaking world.
History
Founded in 761 around a monastery, it became the capital of the Kingdom of Asturias in the early 9th century under King Alfonso II the Chaste, the first Christian kingdom born after the Muslim conquest and the starting point of the Reconquista. Alfonso II made a pilgrimage to the newly discovered tomb of the apostle, inaugurating the Camino Primitivo to Santiago. In 1934 the city suffered heavy damage during the miners' revolution, and again in the Civil War.
Asturian pre-Romanesque
The 9th-century monuments of Asturian pre-Romanesque are a unique architectural style and a UNESCO site:
- Santa María del Naranco, a royal palace of King Ramiro I on Naranco hill, with loggias and decorated arches;
- San Miguel de Lillo, a nearby church with refined reliefs;
- San Julián de los Prados, with frescoes, on the edge of the city;
- the Fuente de Foncalada, an ancient fountain.
What to see
- The Gothic cathedral of San Salvador, with its tower and the Holy Chamber, holding the Cross of the Angels and the Victory Cross, symbol of Asturias, and the Sudarium of Oviedo, venerated as the cloth that covered Christ's face.
- The old town, with Plaza de la Constitución, Plaza del Fontán and the market.
- The Fine Arts Museum of Asturias and the Archaeological Museum.
- The Campo de San Francisco, the large central park.
- The sculptures in the streets, including a statue of Woody Allen, who called Oviedo a fairy-tale city.
Cider
Calle Gascona, the "cider boulevard", is lined with sidrerías where waiters pour Asturian cider from on high, arm outstretched, to aerate it: the escanciado. Pair it with fabada asturiana, cachopo, Cabrales cheese and carbayones, the city's typical pastry.
Festivals and getting there
The San Mateo festivals, in September, are the most important. Asturias airport is about 45 km away; Oviedo is linked to Madrid by high-speed train in just over three hours. Gijón and the Cantabrian coast are a few kilometres away.