Oviedo Travel Guide

Oviedo, a lively university city, is undoubtedly the cultural and commercial capital of the Asturias region. Although it lacks Barcelona and Madrid’s renowned and globalized agenda, Oviedo warrants a detailed investigation. Its beauty lies principally in its relative anonymity – as of yet undiscovered, Oviedo feels like the real deal. An authentic and charming northern Spanish city packed full of Pre-Romanesque buildings, a vibrant gastronomic scene, and glamorous boutiques, Oviedo will not leave one cold.

The Iberian Peninsula, first inhabited around 800,000 BC, has been subject to foreign influences. Indeed, from the 11th century BC, it was colonized by powers from the Eastern Mediterranean, culminating with the arrival of the Romans in 218 BC. As a result, the Roman way of life was implanted across Spain in the next few hundred years. Their rule endured until the 5th century AD, paving the way for Spain to be conquered by the Visigoths, who invaded from the north. However, they were politically disorganized and offered little resistance to the Moors, who arrived in 711.

Enter Asturias. Until the 8th century, little historical mention of this corner of Spain exists. However, the Reconquest of Spain is said to have begun in 722 when Christians defeated a Moorish force at Covadonga in the Picos de Europa. After that, the Christian Kingdom of Asturias was founded in the 8th century – history records that Oviedo was founded by two monks, Maximo and Fromestano, in 761. Unlike most of Spain, the settlement was built on an uninhabited hillside and had no Visigothic or Roman heritage. Therefore, this was an Asturian province in its own right, something that even contemporary Asturians are very proud of.

Many beautiful churches were built around Oviedo during this period, some surviving today. However, relations with the southern Moorish Kingdom remained fractious, and the settlement was attacked by Caliph Hisham I in 794.

By the early 10th century, Oviedo was a thriving town, prospering under the rule of King Alfonso III. In 908, he commemorated the victory at Covadonga by commissioning the creation of a gold and jeweled cross known as the “Cross of Victory.” It can be seen today in Oviedo’s handsome cathedral. Nevertheless, the constant skirmishes with the Moors took their toll on Oviedo’s inhabitants. In 901, an army tried to take the town of Zamora, which would be the final city that Alfonso III ever saw. He was overthrown by his sons and buried in Oviedo.

After Alfonso’s death, the Royal Court was moved to Leon, and the importance of Oviedo would sadly diminish. Kings spent less and less time in Oviedo, so Leon surpassed the city in terms of architectural splendor and development. Meanwhile, the infant Christian Kingdoms in the north – Leon, Castile, Navarra, Aragon, and Catalunya – advanced south gradually in the 11th century, fighting to regain land from the Moors. After the fall of Toledo in 1085, the struggle became increasingly a holy war. However, Oviedo was largely removed from the fighting and continued to prosper quietly, albeit its former glory had been significantly reduced.

In the late 15th century, the two largest kingdoms in developing Christian Spain – Castile and Aragon – were united following the marriage of Isabel and Fernando in 1469. Uniting Spain in military, diplomatic, and religious matters, the Monarchs won back Granada, the last Moorish kingdom, from Boabdil. The subsequent Inquisition gave Spain a reputation for intolerance, yet in art and architecture, brilliant progress was made. At the same time, Columbus’s discovery of the New World opened up Spain to new riches.

Meanwhile, Oviedo grew as a medieval city with the construction of city walls, although a significant fire on Christmas Eve 1521 caused much damage. Nevertheless, the creation of the Arts College by Fernando de Valdes Salas at the beginning of the 1600s was a great boon for the city. This was Spain’s Golden Age, a time of outstanding artistic and literary achievement led by the painters – El Greco and Velazquez – and writers, especially Cervantes. But unfortunately, this brilliance occurred against a backdrop of economic deterioration and ruinous wars with other European nations.

The 18th and 19th centuries were a troubled time for Spain. The War of The Spanish Succession ended in triumph for the Bourbons, who made Spain a centralized nation. A subsequent invasion by revolutionary France led to the War of Independence – the Carlist Wars soon followed. Yet, amid all the turmoil, Oviedo expanded its industrial growth and was mainly unaffected by the political and social upheavals of the 19th century.

However, the 20th century was a different story altogether. Oviedo played a significant role in the Spanish Civil War, a conflict caused by Nationalist Generals rising against the Second Republic in 1936. Before the onset of the War, left-wing forces composed of 50,000 workers, mostly miners, captured Oviedo after heavy fighting. Yet their victory was to be short-lived, as General Francisco Franco retook Oviedo and killed over 3,000 rebels. Two years later, the Siege of Oviedo would become a defining moment in the conflict; the stationed army garrison supported Franco and resisted Republican forces until a Nationalist relief force arrived in 1937. After the War, thousands of Republicans were executed in reprisals. As a result, Spain was internationally isolated until the 1950s, when the United States brought her into the Western military alliance.

Franco’s death in 1975 left Spain’s delicate political future hanging in the balance; although few people wanted to preserve the old regime, the country made a peaceful transition to democracy.

Oviedo greeted the 21st century with an understandable sense of pride – increasing numbers of visitors are discovering the charms – both sedate and lively – of this unspoiled corner of Spain. From the clean sandy beaches and deep green landscapes to the magnificent examples of Pre-Romanesque architecture and excellent gastronomy, there are many good reasons to visit Asturias.