San Miguel de Lillo Church, Oviedo (must see)

Overlooking the old city of Oviedo, on the slope of Mount Naranco, is the venerable 9th-century pre-Romanesque church of San Miguel de Lillo. No one knows who designed and built it. After the beginning of the Reconquest, the war to end Muslim occupation of the peninsula, King Ramiro I of Asturias ordered the construction of a palace.

The palace was to be named Santa Maria del Naranco. Ramiro I was building his fantasy recreation haven. He gave the order while standing in the Cave of Covadonga, desiring a better hideaway from the madding crowds of Oviedo. The nobles were restless. San Miguel de Lillo was the chapel part of the King's mountain retreat.

The original structure of San Miguel was larger than what we see today. Sometime in the 11th or 12th century, two-thirds of the church was carried away in a landslide. The original was vaulted and divided into three naves. It was unusually tall and narrow for its time. There were two chapels on each side, creating a Latin Cross ground plan.

Inside, allegorical symbols and motifs are carved into the stone walls. The vestibule jambs are in the form of human figures. The window openings hold stone latticework. Stone stairs lead to the gallery. There are four arches decorated with Visigoth motifs. Traces of frescoes can be seen on interior walls today.