Basílica de Covadonga

Cathedral and Cámara Santa

Distancia 1,3km (17 minutos caminando)

The San Salvador of Oviedo Cathedral is mainly a fine Gothic building which edification began on the late XIII century and lasted for three centuries. Later on the XVII century, the ambulatory was added along with several small lateral chapels.

Due to its long lasting construction, we can appreciate the progression of the constructive stages in the current building, Preromantic (Holy Chamber), Romanesque (the vaults of the Holy Chamber), Renaissance (the pinnacle of the tower) and Baroque (the ambulatory, King Casto’s chapel and other chapels). It has a Latin cross floorplan with three naves being the central one higher and wider than the lateral ones.

The Holy Chamber is an Asturian Pre-romanesque building placed inside the complex of the Oviedo Cathedral and built on the IX century under the kingship of Alfonso II el Casto.

It is formed by two overlapped chapels, the lower one is the Santa Leocadia crypt and the upper one is the San Miguel crypt.  On the XII century the upper chapel was extended and reconstructed, as Alfonso II wanted a place to keep the Holy Relics. The most famous is the Holy Shroud that, according to tradition, is the sheet that was placed over Jesus Christ’s face. The cross of the Angels, the Victory Cross, the Agate Box and the Saint Ark are also part of this treasure. The Holy Chamber was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1998.