Oviedo

It is the second most populated municipality in Asturias and is one of the key points in the metropolitan area of the region. When Máximo and Fromestano founded a monastery under the patronage of San Vicente, little could they have imagined that this place would be the origin of the first Christian capital of the Iberian Peninsula. The birth of the city of Oviedo/Uviéu - it holds the titles of 'most noble, most loyal, most meritorious, undefeated, heroic and good' - has all the legendary and epic ingredients of great deeds. Since ancient times it has preserved its monastic and royal stamp, and continues to be a prime reference point on the Primitive Pilgrim's Way to Santiago, whose founder was also an Asturian king, D. Alfonso II.

The Asturian capital is hospitable and dynamic, where you can experience something different every day, and it has an intense cultural and commercial life, and neighbourhoods, each with its own distinctive and attractive character. Humane in size, it is easy to walk around and every corner holds an unexpected sensation: the Fontán market, the cider boulevard, the Pre-Romanesque fountain of La Foncalada, the Cathedral with a Gothic and a Romanesque tower, the historic quarter - where the Archaeological and Fine Arts Museums are located - which has been a source of inspiration for writers such as Clarín or Pérez de Ayala, contemporary civil architecture or an intense agenda that includes, among others, the opera season or the Princess of Asturias Awards Ceremony.

This is the city of Oviedo/Uviéu, monastic, royal and Jacobean, a beacon of Christianity in the late Middle Ages, which still treasures among its relics a universal reference: the Holy Shroud.

Mount Naranco - a place of pilgrimage and sporting events -, or the area of Faro, Llimanes, Abuli, etc. make up a pleasant rural setting for strolling, visiting monuments or enjoying the gastronomy and cider, in a festive, hospitable council that loves Asturian traditions.

The ten best things to see and do in Oviedo