Oviedo (redirected from Oviedo, Asturias)

Oviedo (ōvyā`thō), city (1990 pop. 194,637), capital of Oviedo prov. (coextensive with the autonomous region of Asturias) NW Spain, near the great mining district of the Cantabrian Mts. Oviedo is one of the most important industrial centers of Spain; ordnance, firearms, gunpowder, textiles, food, and many other products are manufactured. The mining of coal and iron is a major industry. Founded c.760, Oviedo flourished in the 9th cent. as the capital of the Asturian kings but lost much of its importance after the capital was transferred to León early in the 10th cent. The cathedral, begun in 1388, contains the tombs of the Asturian kings and has a high square tower. Adjoining it is the Camara Santa (9th and 11th cent.), which housed the cathedral's store of sacred relics and treasures, famous throughout all Spain. The Univ. of Oviedo was founded in 1604. The city suffered severely during the revolt of the Asturian miners in 1934 and in a siege during the civil war. A new quarter has since been built on the southwest side of the city.

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Oviedo

 ancient Asturias

City (pop., 2001: 201,154), capital of Asturias, northwestern Spain. Oviedo lies on a hill surrounded by mountains and a fertile plain. Founded as a monastery in AD 757, it became the capital of the kingdom of Asturias in 810. It was one of the few Spanish towns never conquered by the Moors and contains many medieval landmarks, including a 14th-century cathedral. The cathedral was badly damaged during the Spanish Civil War. Oviedo is the centre of a mining region that produces coal and iron.

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Oviedo

a city in NW Spain: capital of Asturias from 810 until 1002; centre of a coal- and iron-mining area. Pop.: 207 699 (2003 est.)

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Oviedo 

a city in northern Spain, in the Cantabrian Mountains. It is the principal city of the Asturias region and the administrative center of Oviedo Province. Population, 154,100 (1970). Gijón Airport, situated on the Bay of Biscay, is outside Oviedo. The city, an important transportation junction, is the center of Spain’s largest coal basin. Oviedo and its suburbs have metallurgy, chemical, heavy machine-building, cement, ceramic, textile, and food-processing industries. The city is the site of a university.

Oviedo was founded in the eighth century on the site of a Roman settlement. In the second half of the eighth century it became the principal city of the Asturian Kingdom and the center of the Reconquest (until the transfer of the capital to the city of León in the tenth century). During the Spanish Revolution of 1808–14 an Oviedo junta was one of the first groups to revolt against French occupational forces. In the 19th century, Oviedo took on great economic importance in connection with the development of the Asturian mining region. During the October battles of 1934, the city was the principal resistance point for the workers fighting against fascism. In 1936, during the fascist revolt, the city was captured by Franco’s forces.

Oviedo’s architectural landmarks include the cathedral (primarily in the flamboyant Gothic style, 1388 to the 16th century), the university building (in the Herreresco style, 1598–1604, architects G. de Bracomonte and J. del Rivero), and the baroque Hospicio Provincial (1752, architect M. Requera, based on a design by V. Rodriguez). Modern buildings occupy the area southwest of the city’s center. Located near Oviedo are examples of pre-Romanesque architecture (the Church of San Miguel de Lillo, c. 848).