San Julián de los Prados: Art and Heritage in Asturias

San Julián de los Prados, also known as Santullano, is one of the most remarkable medieval works in Europe, and a jewel in the crown of Spanish cultural heritage. It is located in the city of Oviedo/Uviéu and is a must for lovers of cultural tourism. The interior of this church is home to the best-preserved mural paintings from the 9th century in Europe. By stopping to admire them, we enter a fascinating chapter in the spirituality of the High Middle Ages.

San Julián de los Prados (Santullano) is the largest and one of the oldest churches in the Asturian Pre-Romanesque period. It was ordered to be built by Alfonso II between 812 and 842, and currently enjoys the highest distinction for a monument: World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1998.

The uniqueness of this church is linked to the vicissitudes of a kingdom in transition that settled in Oviedo/Uviéu. The reign of Alfonso II the Chaste tried to differentiate itself from the Gothic tradition, adopting Carolingian influences, promoting a triumphant Christianity and an ambitious urban planning project that included a whole complex of churches such as San Julián de los Prados, San Pedro de Nora and Santa María de Bendones.

These buildings were forged in the image and likeness of a theocratic power that united politics and religion under the same ideal. The king sculpted his time, giving shape to a sacred space as an element of domination.

Santullano is in some way a symbolic battlefield that connects late Roman tradition with nascent Christian spirituality, combining classical artistic techniques with the first canons of pre-Romanesque aesthetics. The Corinthian capitals of the main chapel, for example, are probably of Visigothic origin, and the mural paintings follow a hierarchical scheme derived from the Byzantine world.

For its part, the basilica structure with its wide and luminous central nave is unusual in medieval buildings. The play of volumes and the vaulted apses are more innovative elements, typical of Asturian art. This unprecedented syncretism makes it a universal monument in every sense of the word, an indisputable point of reference in European medieval art.

It is an unparalleled achievement. It exceeds the height of the central nave and gives the space a monumentality that defies the rules of architecture. It housed the royal tribune from which the monarch, the incarnation of divinity, followed the religious ceremonies. The space was illuminated by a window more than four metres high through which sunlight filtered in and became a spiritual light. A divine message that blessed the interior of the temple, and those who congregated there.

The large polychrome frescoes, friezes of interlinked and repeated geometric forms, with an abundance of plant and architectural figures, are one of the most important early medieval pictorial ensembles surviving in Europe. They represent an idealised, spiritual vision of the cosmos. In their development, strings impregnated with pigments were used to mark the lines, compasses to trace circles and symmetrical axes, always seeking the illusion of three-dimensionality.

A play of light and shadow that, as in a dream, conceals a message to transcend reality. The paintings, executed in fresco and previously engraved with a punch, are aniconic (they have a total absence of human or divine figures), which connects them with older traditions such as the Pompeian or Hellenistic ones.

There is a constant reference to the Apocalypse of St John and the heavenly Jerusalem, as a promise of what is to come. On a higher level, palaces are depicted alternating with symbolic elements such as the cross of the Anastasis, a victorious emblem of royal power and a sign of devotion to the Holy Cross.

In the silence of its interior, broken only by the echo of footsteps, one can imagine the chants and prayers that once resounded beneath its vaults. To experience first-hand one of the best testimonies of the Middle Ages is something not to be missed on your next visit to the capital of Asturias.