Oviedo Cathedral

Oviedo's cathedral is Gothic, built from the fourteenth century with a single asymmetrical tower, but the reason for its status is older and embedded within it: the Camara Santa, a chapel built by Alfonso II around 802 and rebuilt in the twelfth century, holds relics said to have been brought north from Toledo ahead of the Muslim advance, including the Arca Santa, a silver-clad chest, the Cross of the Angels and the Victory Cross, and a cloth venerated as the Sudarium of Oviedo. It was declared a UNESCO site in 1985 as part of the Asturian pre-Romanesque group. The chamber was blown up during the 1934 revolution and its contents smashed; they were reassembled and restored over the following years.

What you actually see

• The Camara Santa - a ninth-century chapel rebuilt in the twelfth.
• The Arca Santa - a silver-clad relic chest of the eleventh century.
• The Cross of the Angels - a jewelled cross of 808, the city's emblem.
• The Gothic cathedral - a fourteenth-century church around the older core.

When to go

April to June and September to November; the cathedral closes for services and keeps a midday break. Oviedo is wet year-round. The Camara Santa is included in the ticket but has restricted hours.

Honest expectations

Much of the Camara Santa's contents were destroyed in 1934 and are restorations. Photography is restricted in the chamber. The Sudarium is displayed only on a few days each year.

Nearby

Santa Maria del Naranco is three kilometres above the city; the Camino Primitivo starts here.