Santa María del Naranco

On the slopes of Monte Naranco above Oviedo stand two small buildings that are among the most remarkable in Europe: Santa María del Naranco, a stone hall built for King Ramiro I of Asturias and dedicated in 848, and, a few hundred metres up the hill, the church of San Miguel de Lillo. Built when most of Spain was under Muslim rule, they are masterpieces of Asturian pre-Romanesque, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and can be seen together on one €5 guided visit.

A king’s hall

In the 9th century the little Christian kingdom of Asturias, in the mountains of northern Spain, held out against the Muslim south. Its king Ramiro I, who reigned from 842 to 850, built a group of buildings on Monte Naranco, outside his capital, Oviedo. An inscription on the altar stone names Ramiro and his wife Paterna and dates the building to 848. Whether it was built as a palace, a royal hall or a church is uncertain; by the 12th century it had become the church of St Mary.

What makes it extraordinary is how advanced it is. It is entirely vaulted in stone, on two floors, with buttresses outside, open loggias at both ends, columns carved with twisted rope patterns, and carved medallions where the arches meet the walls, almost two centuries before Romanesque churches did the same. Since 1985 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site now called the Monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of the Asturias.

The visitor’s cheat sheet

What to see

The upper hall

An outside stair leads up to the main hall, a long room under a stone barrel vault supported by transverse arches. At each end, a triple arcade on rope-carved columns opens onto a belvedere with views across the valley. Look at the carved medallions and the decorated bands below them on the walls. In the east belvedere stands the altar stone with the inscription of 848.

The lower floor

Below the hall, entered from outside, is a plainer vaulted chamber, perhaps used as a crypt or for the king’s household. The visit usually takes in both floors.

San Miguel de Lillo

A few hundred metres up the road is San Miguel de Lillo, built at the same time as the royal chapel of the complex. Most of it collapsed in the Middle Ages, and only the western third survives: the entrance, with a royal tribune above, and the start of the nave. Its door jambs are carved with a king and his courtiers above a lion, an acrobat and a dancer, possibly inspired by a 6th-century Byzantine ivory diptych, and its carved stone window lattices survive. The guided visit includes it.

Getting there

The two monuments are on Monte Naranco, about 3 km above central Oviedo. City bus line A (roughly hourly) stops near the monuments; on foot, allow about 45 minutes uphill from the cathedral. Drivers will find free parking at the foot of the monuments, up to 10 minutes’ walk away. Oviedo is about three and a half hours by fast train from Madrid. In the town, the Cámara Santa in the cathedral and the church of San Julián de los Prados belong to the same World Heritage Site.

Don’t miss

• The belvederes Triple arches over the valley.
• The rope-carved columns The signature of Asturian builders.
• The altar inscription Ramiro, Paterna and the year 848.
• The Lillo door jambs A king above a circus act.
• The view over Oviedo From the grass outside.

Insider tips

More churches in Spain

• San Isidoro, León — the Romanesque royal pantheon of the kings who succeeded the Asturian monarchy.
• Santiago de Compostela Cathedral — the shrine of St James, whose tomb was discovered in the time of the Asturian kings.
• León Cathedral — about an hour south by train, the great Gothic cathedral of glass.

See all the Spanish churches in this guide →