- Title Oviedo Asturias Centre
- Address Address: Avda. de los Monumentos (Monte Naranco) ■ 33012 - Oviedo/Uviéu
- Owned by Owned by: Ecclesiastical
- Phone Phone: 638 260 163 (WhatsApp) / 985 295 685 (Parroquia)
- Email Email: santamariadelnaranco@gmail.com
- Site Site: https://www.santamariadelnaranco.es/
The building we can see today corresponds to approximately one third of the original construction. During the late Middle Ages, the church collapsed in part and the present-day chancel was rebuilt. Today, the original portico and one of the sections of the original nave are still standing.
On the outside, the walls are surrounded by buttresses and openings in them that are decorated with fully worked stone latticework. Of all the latticework in the monument, four original ones have survived.
The interior is divided into three naves, which are separated for the first time by tall columns instead of pillars. The columns rest on bases decorated with the symbols of the evangelists. The large capitals supporting the arches are decorated with motifs of Byzantine and North African origin.
At the foot of the nave, above the old portico, there is a tribune. It is accessed through an opening decorated with marble pilasters, up narrow stone steps.
There are four arches in the tribune, corresponding to as many doors, decorated with motifs in the Visigothic tradition.
The entire interior is vaulted and above the part of the vault that covers the tribune there is an inaccessible compartment, illuminated from the outside by a circular lattice, which gives the building a great slenderness.
Together with Santa María del Naranco, they make up what is known as the Naranco Pre-Romanesque.
Due to restoration works, there will be no guided tours or access to the interior of the Naranco Monuments(San Miguel de Lillo and Santa María del Naranco) from 2 October until further notice.
Bus line A2 (stop Prerrománico)
It can be reached on foot along a 150 m. path (from the car park), which can be reached from Oviedo/Uviéu by the Naranco road (towards Ules).