Santa Cristina de Lena

The church of Santa Cristina de Lena, located on a hill overlooking the valley of the river Lena, is undoubtedly related to the works at Naranco, although it is more crudely ornamented.

It may have been developed in the time of Ramiro I (842-850) or in the time of his successor Ordoño I (850-866), but always after the master who created the Ramiran style.

Its structure differs from those of other churches in the Asturian Monarchy. It consists of a single, rectangular nave with four small projections, also rectangular, one in the centre of each exterior wall (portico, chancel and side rooms).

All the spaces are vaulted with a barrel vault over transverse arches, and the construction is reinforced on the outside with numerous buttresses.

The nave has five bays, defined by the transverse arches that are supported by a blind arcade that runs along the side walls. The chancel is made up of a projecting body. Its floor and that of the last section of the nave are higher and are reached by means of two lateral staircases.

This space is separated from the nave by a large iconostasis formed by three arcades on capitals and columns, decorated with rectangular openings closed by openwork latticework and a Visigothic door.