Catedral de Oviedo

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About Catedral de Oviedo

The Catedral de San Salvador in Oviedo stands on the Plaza de Afonso II, el Casto, in the old town. It occupies the site of the 9th‑century pre‑Romanesque church complex from when Oviedo was the capital of the Kingdom of Asturias. Gothic works began at the end of the 13th century with the chapter house and the cloister, and continued over three centuries until the tower was finished in the mid‑16th century. Later came the Baroque ambulatory and several chapels.

For this reason the cathedral brings together different styles: pre‑Romanesque in the Cámara Santa, Romanesque in the vaults and in the apostolate of the same Cámara, Gothic in the façade, the naves and the cloister, Renaissance in the tower and Baroque in the ambulatory and in the chapel of King Casto, where tombs of Asturian kings lie.

The Cámara Santa, from the 9th century, is a World Heritage site. It consists of two superimposed chapels: below, the crypt of Santa Leocadia; above, the chapel of San Miguel, rebuilt in the 12th century with a stone vault supported by columns bearing figures of the apostles in pairs. There are the cathedral’s treasures: the Cruz de los Ángeles, from 808, symbol of Oviedo; the Cruz de la Victoria, from 908, symbol of Asturias; the Arca Santa, a reliquary chest covered in silver; and the Holy Shroud. The Cámara Santa was destroyed by an explosion in 1934 and subsequently reconstructed.