The Palace of Ramiro I on Mount Naranco is a unique building without a clear-cut purpose (palace, church, royal pavilion, royal hall, etc.). The building has a rectangular ground plan and is divided into two floors connected by an external stairway. The lower floor, or crypt, is completely sealed, while the upper floor is open.
The building, painstakingly executed in masonry, is raised on a stone base affording it a vertical sense that is reinforced by the fluted buttresses that reach the roof.
The lower floor, or crypt, is similar to that of Santa Leocadia in the Holy Chamber. It is accessed from the outside and is fully reinforced with transversal ribs.
The upper floor is accessed via the external stairway. This is a single room with balconies on both sides and mullioned windows that simulate another floor on one side.
The balconies are divided into three arches that rest on columns with carved shafts and Corinthian capitals. Outside, fluted pilasters with crosses drape down alongside the windows, ending in medallions with animal and human figuration.
The inside, which is fully vaulted, is traversed by transversal ribs that repeat the exterior decoration of decorated pilasters ending in medallions.
