Oviedo: Art, Pre-Romanesque Architecture and Cider

Oviedo offers art collections, pre-Romanesque buildings, sacred history and green urban spaces. These different themes give you a range of ideas for planning your trip: you can focus your stay on museums and architecture, explore green spaces, or discover cider and traditional cuisine.

Art and History in Oviedo

The Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias holds 15,000 works dating from the 14th to the 21st century. These include works by El Greco, Goya, Sorolla, Picasso, Dalí and Miró. The collection therefore offers a broad timeframe for a visit, from works of the Late Middle Ages to art from more recent centuries.

The museum is housed in a complex of four buildings next to the cathedral, in the historic center and in a pedestrian zone. Nearby are also the town hall, Plaza Trescorrales and El Fontán market. The location gives you several named landmarks to help orient yourself during a visit to the center.

The Catedral de El Salvador is a cultural, artistic and religious landmark in the heart of Oviedo. The Cámara Santa in the cathedral was declared a World Heritage Site in 1998. For another perspective on the city's history, the Museo Arqueológico de Asturias takes you into the former 16th-century Benedictine monastery of San Vicente, which is closely connected to Oviedo's history. Its exhibition presents the key cultural periods from prehistory to the beginning of the modern era. A dedicated room showcases Asturian heritage sites with World Heritage status.

Pre-Romanesque Architecture and Mural Painting

San Julián de los Prados preserves early medieval murals that rank among Europe's most significant surviving examples from this period. Santa María del Naranco is considered the most important work of European pre-Romanesque art. From the parking area, you can reach the site via a 150-meter walking path; bus route A2 also stops at Prerrománico.

La Foncalada is another distinctive example of this architecture: within pre-Romanesque architecture, it is the only example of a civic building in an urban setting. Together with churches and museums, it offers different ways to explore architectural and cultural history, without reducing all the sights to a single theme.

Green Spaces, Routes and Different Scales

Campo San Francisco is a central green space covering 90,000 square meters. Families, readers and curious visitors come here for a walk. The Vía Verde de Fuso follows the former route of a mining railway and passes through tunnels, by trees and past old railway stations. The two places represent different aspects of open space: a central green area and a route shaped by its former railway line.

Monte Naranco rises to more than 600 meters and can be climbed on foot in a little over an hour. The Camino de Santiago Primitivo, in turn, runs from Oviedo/Uviéu to Puerto del Acebo and is 145.6 kilometers long in total. Monte Naranco's elevation and walking time, along with the Camino's endpoints and total length, provide concrete reference points for your planning without requiring you to infer additional stages or walking times.

Cider, Market and Getting There

Calle Gascona is known as the cider boulevard and is lined with restaurants and sidrerías where you can sample cider and traditional cuisine. Individual establishments may change. El Fontán market is also a useful landmark in the center; it is especially lively on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. If local cuisine and market activity fit your plans, these two places offer different ways to explore Oviedo's culinary character.

There is a bus service from Asturias Airport (OVD) to Oviedo bus station. Check the bus services and the market days mentioned here before you travel. You can use your sightseeing plans as a guide when choosing a hotel: art collections, pre-Romanesque buildings, walks, a climb or regional cuisine each bring a different focus to your stay.

Discover more destinations: Oviedo, Nava, Santo Medero, Siones, Cortina, Faro, La Manjoya, Santianes, Las Caldas, Villapérez.

For the regional travel overview: Asturias.