Covadonga

The Covadonga Sanctuary is sometimes called the cradle of Spain as the Muslim conquest of Iberia was stopped here.

In 722 a small Asturian army under Don Pelayo (Pelagius) ambushed an Umayyad army in the narrow valley and defeated the Moors in the battle of Covadonga. It was the first Christian victory and the start of the Reconquista.

Legend has it that Pelayo and his men hid in a local cave under protection of the Virgin Mary herself.

Pointa of interest at the Sanctuary are:

-A large bronze statue of a victorious Don Pelayo

-The Basilica of St Mary was constructed with a local pink limestone. Beneath the church is a very tranquil crypt where soft light enters through stained glass windows.

-The Holy Cave holds a small chapel with a 16th century statue of the Virgin of Covadonga and the tomb of Pelagius.

There is also a museum, a monastery and a garden with a sacred waterfall and, especially for the ladies, the Fountain of the Seven Pipes.

We visited Covadonga in May 2019.

the museum of Covadonga is dedicated to the battle of Covadonga and the history of the Sanctuary

the marble altar of the crypt was donated by an Asturian resident in Cuba

the entrance to the Cave of the Virgin of Covadonga

the crypt was designed by Roberto Frassinelli, the German of Corao

the entrance to the crypt below the basilica

during the Spanish civil war the statue of the Virgin of Covadonga took refuge in in the Embassy of Spain in France

the tomb of Alfonso I of Asturias, third king of Asturias who married the daughter of Don Pelayo

from an opening in he cave you have a nice view of the Basilica

the Chapter house of the monastery

the Basílica de Santa María la Real de Covadonga was inaugurated in 1901

the statue for Don Pelayo

the Madonna with Child was carved from one large piece of ivory

the tomb of Don Pelayo and members of his family