Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo

The palace of Ramiro I and the church of San Miguel de Lillo, 300 metres apart, on the slope of Mount Naranco, about 3 km from the centre. The guided visit starts at Santa María. From October to March it opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 14:30 and on Sunday from 10:00 to 12:30; from April to September, also in the afternoon. Go up on bus A2 and come down on A1. Telephone: 638 260 163.

What you will see

Santa María del Naranco was built by order of Ramiro I, who reigned between 842 and 850, as part of a palace complex for official or leisure occasions. Turismo Asturias calls it the most significant construction of European pre-Romanesque art. It is a rectangular building of two floors joined by an outside staircase. Below, a vaulted crypt; above, a great hall with a viewing gallery at each end, of three arches on columns with carved shafts. The eastern gallery, with its three arches, has for decades been a symbol of tourism in Asturias. Look at the fluted buttresses and the medallions with figures of animals and people that hang from the pilasters, inside and out. It was a church from the 12th century to the early 20th.

San Miguel de Lillo, about 300 metres along the road, was a basilica, but a collapse in the 11th century left only a third standing. Even so, it keeps window lattices, carved columns and capitals, figures from a Roman circus on the jambs of the porch and traces of painting. Both are part of the World Heritage Site of the monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of Asturias.

Opening hours and admission

• Winter (1 January to 31 March and 1 October to 31 December): Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 to 14:30; Sundays and 31 December, 10:00 to 12:30. Monday, 10:00 to 12:30, free and without a guide.
• Summer (1 April to 30 September): Tuesday to Saturday, 9:30 to 13:00 and 15:30 to 19:00; Sundays, 9:30 to 13:00. Monday, 9:30 to 13:00, free and without a guide.
• Closed on 25 December, 1 and 6 January, and 8 and 21 September.

General admission costs €5; groups of more than 20 people, €4, and schoolchildren, €2. You can pay by card. Capacity is limited, so it is best to arrive with time to spare.

Getting there

By car, go up the Naranco road towards Ules to the car park, and from there it is 150 metres on foot along a path. By city bus, line A2 goes up to the Prerrománico stop and the A1 comes down, roughly every hour; timetables at tua.es. You can also walk up from the city: the road starts gently and steepens to 12% near the Sagrado Corazón.

Next to the monuments is the Pre-Romanesque Interpretation Centre, with activities and workshops, mainly for children. Complete the route with San Julián de los Prados and the cathedral of San Salvador.