page_title: Asturian architecture
section_title: Fourth period (866 to 910)
hierarchical_section_title: Asturian architecture / Monuments of interest / Fourth period (866 to 910)
context_page_description: Pre-Romanesque architecture in Asturias is framed between the years 711 and 910, the period of the creation and expansion of the kingdom of Asturias.
context_section_description: This comprises the reign of Alfonso III, who came to the throne at the age of 18, on the death of his father, Ordoño I, marking the zenith of the kingdom of Asturias. Expansion against Islam led him to conquer Oporto and Coimbra in present-day Portugal, and he pushed the borders of the kingdom as far as the Mondego, repopulating Zamora, Simancas, Toro and the whole area known as Campos Góticos. The idea of the Asturian kingdom as a 
  continuation of the Visigoths in Toledo was fully assumed, involving the obligation to re-conquer all the territory occupied by Muslims. This idea was reflected in the historical chronicles, such as the Crónica Albeldense, written in Oviedo in the year 881, which tells the history of the Gothic kingdom (Ordo Gentis gothorum), followed by the Asturian monarchy (Ordo Gothorum Obetensium fíegnum). The kingdom's moment of expansion and maturity was also reflected in a cultural revitalisation promoted from the court, involving architectural and artistic renewal.
  The kingdom's progressive expansion and increasing power also kindled the ambition of Alfonso III's three sons (García I, Ordoño II and Fruela II), who, encouraged by a number of noblemen, dispossessed the king and confined him in the town of Boiges (Boides valley, present-day Valdediós). Even so, they allowed him to lead a final campaign against the Muslims in Zamora, where he was victorious once more. He died on his return, in December of the year 910. Described in the chronicles as "Great King and Emperor" (Magnus Imperatore ImpemtorNoster),the king who had achieved the kingdom's greatest expansion and consolidation since it was founded by Pelayo, could not prevent his since from splitting it into three parts, Asturias, Galicia and Castile-León, meaning the disappearance of the kingdom of Asturias.
  San Salvador de Valdediós and Santo Adriano de Tuñón are the two churches built by this monarch, in addition to the Foncalada fountain (fonte incalata) in the centre of Oviedo, and the already-mentioned gold artefacts of the Victory Cross and the Agate box.
  The Church of San Salvador de Valdediós stands in the Boides valley (Villaviciosa), the place where Alfonso III 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 September 16, 893, with seven bishops in attendance, and 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 barrelled with a brick ceiling and decorated with al fresco wall painting, alternating a variety of geometric designs.
  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.
  The Church of Santo Adriano de Tuñón is located on the bank of the River Trubia, next to an old Roman road. Founded on January 24, 891, it stands on a classic basilica ground plan, although in the 17th and 18th centuries it was extended with a nave structure at the western end, and a bell gable. The al fresco paintings in this church are the only remains of Mozarabic painters' work in an Asturian art workshop.
  Finally, the Foncalada fountain, the only upper medieval civil construction conserved in Spain, was b
caption: San Salvador de Valdediós monastery
exif: {"Image Make": "Hewlett-Packard", "Image Model": "HP PhotoSmart C850 (V05.37)", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS Windows", "Image DateTime": "2005:05:16 18:06:54", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "244", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "842", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5143", "EXIF ExposureTime": "209/100000", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:05:14 16:40:55", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:05:14 16:40:55", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "2279/256", "EXIF ApertureValue": "785/256", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "1523/256", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "13107/200", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "D55", "EXIF Flash": "20", "EXIF FocalLength": "38/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1136", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "848", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "716", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "High gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}