Church of San Salvador de Valdediós

Church of the Holy Savior of Valdediós Iglesia de San Salvador de Valdediós (Spanish)
Basic information
Location	Oviedo, Spain
Geographic coordinates	43°26′13.6″N 5°30′23.5″W / 43.437111°N 5.506528°W / 43.437111; -5.506528
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Province	Asturias
Year consecrated	893
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Church
Website	Official Website
Architectural description
Architectural type	Church
Architectural style	Pre-Romanesque
Specifications
Length	16 metres (52 ft)
Width	13.3 metres (44 ft) [1]

Holy Savior of Valdedios (Spanish: Iglesia de San Salvador de Valdediós) is a Roman Catholic pre-romanesque church, located next to Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain.

The church stands in the Boides valley (Villaviciosa), the place where Alfonso III of Asturias was detained when he was dispossessed by his sons, and where there used to be an old convent governed by the Benedictine Order, substituted in the 13th century by the Cistercians. The church known as the "Bishops' Chapel" was consecrated on 16 September 893, with seven bishops in attendance, and

Architecture

The church stands on a classic basilica ground plan with a triple sanctuary, separating the central nave from the side aisles with four semicircular arches. At the western end, there are three enclosures, the central one used as an access vestibule, and two located on the left and right which may have been used to house pilgrims. The vault over the central nave, like the one over the apses, is barreled with a brick ceiling and decorated with al fresco wall painting, alternating a variety of geometric designs.

Ground plan of the church

Royal tribune

The royal tribune is located above the vestibule, separate from the area intended for the congregation (spatium fidelium) in the central nave, and this from the area devoted to the liturgy by iron grilles, now disappeared. Particular elements of this church include the covered gallery annexed to the southern facade at a later date or Royal Portico, the 50 cm square columns on the central naves arches, the triple-arched window open in the central apse, and the room above it, exclusively accessed from the exterior by a window which here has two openings, compared with the habitual three.

Notes

1. ^ Arias Paramo 1992, p. 32

References

• Arias Paramo, Lorenzo (1992), "Geometría y proporción en la arquitectura prerrománica asturiana" (in Spanish), Actas del III Congreso de Arqueología Medieval Española (Oviedo: Universidad de Oviedo): 27–37, ISBN 8460419169, http://books.google.com/?id=2diqpqpbMeMC&pg=PA27, retrieved 2009-05-31