Pre-Romanesque architecture in Asturias is framed between the years 711 and 910, the period of the creation and expansion of the kingdom of Asturias.
History In the 5th century, the Goths, a Christianized tribe of Eastern Germanic origin, arrived in the Iberian Peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire, and dominated most of the territory, attempting to continue Roman order by the so-called Ordo Gothorum.
In the year 710, the Visigothic king Wittiza died, and instead of being succeeded by the eldest of his three sons, Agila, the throne was usurped by the duke of Baetica, Roderic. The young heir sought support to recover the throne, and apart from local backing, he approached the Muslim Kingdom in northern Africa. Tarik, the caliph of Damascus governor in Tangier, received permission to offer his army and disembark in Spain, ready to face the Visigothic army of King Roderic.
On July 19, 711, the battle of Guadalete took place near Gibraltar, where supporters of Witiza's heir, backed by Tarik's Muslim army, killed King Roderic and destroyed the Visigothic army. Tarik and his troops then took advantage of their military superiority, and marched on the Visigothic capital, Toledo, taking it almost without opposition.
According to the chronicles, Asturian mercenaries, who had already been recruited by the Romans for their courage and fighting spirit, fought alongside King Roderic. These warriors, together with the rest of the retreating Gothic army, sought refuge in the mountains of Asturias, where they also tried to safeguard some of the sacred relics from Toledo cathedral, the most important of which was the Holy Ark, containing a large number of relics from Jerusalem.
The kingdom of Asturias arose exactly seven years later, in 718, when the Astur tribes, rallied in assembly, decided to appoint Pelayo as their leader, a person of uncertain origin, since for some chroniclers he was a Visigothic nobleman who fled from the Muslim conquerors and for others he was an indigenous nobleman associated with the Visigothic kingdom. Whatever the case, Pelayo joined the local tribes and the refuged Visigoths under his command, with the intention of progressively restoring Gothic Order, based on the kingdom of Toledo's political model.
The kingdom of Asturias disappeared with King Alfonso III, who died in December of the year 910. In barely two hundred years, the 12 kings of the dynasty founded by Pelayo were to gradually recover territory from the Muslims (León, Galicia and Castile), a process which finally required the court to be moved south, to León, for its strategic position in the struggle that culminated 800 years after it had started (1492) with the taking of Granada and the expulsion of the last Arabic king from the Iberian Peninsula. The symbol of the flag of Asturias, a golden cross (significantly called "La Victoria"), and a blue background with the Latin motto Hoc signo, tvetvr pivs, Hoc signo vincitvr inimicvs (With this sign the pious is protected, With this sign you shall defeat the enemy), sums up the unified character that Christianity gave the armed struggle.
Pre-Romanesque as the Asturian monarchy's artistic expression Asturian Pre-Romanesque is a singular feature in all Spain, which, while combining elements from other styles (Visigothic, Mozarabic and local traditions), created and developed its own personality and characteristics, reaching a considerable level of refinement, not only as regards construction, but also in terms of decoration and gold ornamentation. This last aspect can be seen in such relevant works as the Cross of the Angels, the Victory Cross, the agate Box (housed in the Holy Chamber of Oviedo Cathedral), the Reliquary in Astorga Cathedral and the Cross of Santiago.
As court architecture, the situation of Pre-Romanesque monuments followed in the wake of the various locations of the kingdom's capital; from its original site in Cangas de Onís (Eastern Asturias), through Pravia (west of the central coast), to its final location in Oviedo, the region's geographical centre.
As regards its evolution, from its appearance, Asturian Pre-Romanesque followed a "stylistic sequence closely associated with the kingdom's political evolution, its stages clearly outlined". Five stages are distinguished; a first period (737–791) belonging to the reigns of the kings Fáfila, Alfonso I, Fruela I, Aurelio, Silo, Mauregato and Vermudo I. A second stage comprises the reign of Alfonso II (791–842), entering a stage of stylistic definition, and third comprises the reigns of Ramiro I (842–850) and Ordoño I (850–866); a fourth belongs to the reign of Alfonso III (866–910) and a fifth and last which coincides with the transfer of the court to León, the disappearance of the kingdom of Asturias, and simultaneously, of Asturian Pre-Romanesque.
Monuments of interest
First period (737 to 791) Two churches from this early period of the kingdom's rise and consolidation have been recognised. The Church of Santa Cruz (737) at the court's original location, Cangas de Onís, was destroyed in 1936. The present-day church dates from 1950 and, like the original, is built over a barrow covering a dolmen. The legend goes that the name Santa Cruz ("Holy Cross") comes from the oaken cross carried by King Pelayo in the battle of Covadonga, the first "little-big victory" against the Arabs, which was covered in gold and precious stones during the reign of Alfonso III, and came to be called La Victoria, the emblem of Asturia. Chronicles state that the Church of Santa Cruz was built in stone masonry, one nave with a barrel vault and a main chapel on one side.
The second is the Church of San Juan Apóstol y Evangelista, Santianes de Pravia. Its construction results from the move of the royal court from Cangas de Onís to Pravia, an old Roman settlement (Flavium Navia) and crossroads. The church, built between 774 and 783, already showed a number of elements anticipating Asturian Pre-Romanesque: an eastward-facing, basilica ground plan (central nave and two side aisles), separated by three semicircular arches, the transept facing the central nave with the same length as the width of the three aisles. It also had a single, semicircular apse, and an external entrance vestibule, with a wooden ceiling over the nave.
Several sculptural decorative elements showing floral and geometric designs (characteristics of subsequent Pre-Romanesque) are on public display in the museum in the sacristy.
Second period (791 to 842) Alfonso II, known as "the Chaste" (maybe for this reason he had no descendants), was a decisive king in the Asturian monarchy. From a military point of view, he definitively established the kingdom against the Muslims (in the famous battle of Lutos he gained a significant victory), in administration he moved the court to its final site in Oviedo, and in politics he set up cordial, stable relationships with the emperor Charlemagne, as demonstrated by the following quote by Eginardo (Vita caroli):
As regards patronage of art, Alfonso II promoted the largest number of Pre-Romanesque buildings defining what were to be this style's characteristics. With the royal architect, Tioda, he built the churches of Church of San Tirso, Oviedo, San Julián de los Prados, Santa María de Bendones and San Pedro de Nora, in addition to the palace complex in Oviedo, now disappeared, consisting of the churches of San Salvador, Santa María and its adjoining palace and chapel (now the Holy Chamber of Oviedo Cathedral, the only one remaining), containing relies such as the Holy Ark and jewels, like the Cross of the Angels, which he donated himself to the Church of San Salvador. Outside Asturias, with the legend of the discovery of the apostle St. James' tomb in Galicia, in a place known as campus stellae (Compostela), Alfonso II had the first church built in the saints honour (year 892).
When the Church of San Julián de los Prados, or Santuyano, was built (approx. between the years (812 and 842), it formed part of a series of royal buildings. The church had a basilica ground plan (central nave and two side aisles), separated by three semicircular arches on impost capitals and square columns. There is a transept or transversal aisle located between the aisles and the sanctuary, exceeding the central nave in height.
Finally, there was a straight sanctuary, divided into three chapels, and over the main one, only accessible from outside, there was a room whose function is still open to conjecture. As for the roof, the church had an interesting oaken ceiling carved with a variety of geometric designs.
As elements outside the ground plan, there was a vestibule (to the east) and two sacristies adjoining the north and south facades, communicating directly with the transept. The Church of San Julián de los Prados is the largest of the pre-romanesque churches.
From an ornamental point of view, the murals covering the walls and ceilings of this church are the best-conserved upper medieval paintings in Spain. the technique used is al fresco painting (applied with the plaster still wet), arranged in three well-defined areas. Decorative designs show clear influence of mural painting from the Roman period, recreating a certain atmosphere typical of the "theatrical style" (1st century B.C.). Decorative elements are numerous; marble imitation, rectangles, bands, weaving, squares, imitation channeling and columns, medallions decorated with plant motifs, architectural designs, curtains, though totally lacking in any portrayal of biblical or religious scenes, with the single exception of the Anastasis Cross (alpha and omega), as a symbol of royal power. This lack of figurative representation is known as aniconism and was not maintained in later Pre-Romanesque churches.
The church of San Tirso, located beside the Cathedral of Oviedo, conserves only the end wall of the apse from its original construction, because it was destroyed by fire in the 16th century. The section remaining shows the original construction in stone blocks, and in the centre, there is the characteristic three-point window of Asturian Pre-Romanesque, with semicircular arches made of brick. The central opening, larger than the side ones, is supported by free-standing columns.
The Holy Chamber was built as a palace chapel for Alfonso II and the church of San Salvador (both demolished in the 14th century to build the present Gothic cathedral). The Chamber, adjoining the pre-Romanesque Tower of San Miguel, also had the function of housing relics brought from Toledo after the fall of the Visigothic kingdom. It consists of two overlapping aisles with a barrel vault; the crypt or lower floor has a height of 2.30 metres, and is dedicated to St. Leocadia, containing several tombs of other martyrs.
The upper floor, dedicated to St. Michael, was extended in the 12th century, elongating the central section to six metres, a reconstruction that also provided it with its current decoration, a masterpiece of Spanish Romanesque. From an architectural point of view, the Holy Chamber's construction solved one of the greatest problems of Asturian Pre-Romanesque: the vaulting of two overlapping spaces, later used in the buildings of Ramiro I.
As mentioned above, acting as a royal chapel, the Holy Chamber was built to house the jewels and relics of the cathedral of San Salvador in Oviedo, a function it continues to have 1,200 years later. Some of these jewels were donated by the Kings Alfonso II and Alfonso III, and represent extraordinary gold artefacts of Asturian Pre-Romanesque.