Spain Guide
Cantabria and Asturias
The cathedral
Opening time: Mon– Fri: March to mid-May & Oct 10am–1pm & 4–7pm; mid-May to June 10am–1pm & 4–8pm; July– Sept 10am–8pm; Nov– Feb 10am–1pm & 4–6pm
Price: €3 for Cámara Santa & diocesan museum
In the ninth century, King Alfonso II built a chapel, the Cámara Santa (Holy Chamber), to house the holy relics rescued from Toledo when it fell to the Moors. Remodelled in the twelfth century, it now forms the inner sanctuary of Oviedo's unusually uncluttered Gothic Catedral. With its primitive capitals, the innermost of the Cámara Santa's pair of interconnecting chapels is thought to be Alfonso's original building.
The antechapel is a quiet little triumph of Spanish Romanesque; each of the six columns supporting the vault is sculpted with a pair of superbly humanized Apostles. Built around the attractive Gothic cloister, itself built on pre-Romanesque foundations, the diocesan museum holds a high-quality collection of devotional art and artefacts.