Oviedo

Oviedo, the capital of the Spanish province of Asturias (q.v.), 20 miles by rail SSW. of Gijon on the Bay of Biscay and 87 N. by W. of Leon. Standing in a plain between the rivers Nalon and Nora, and sheltered to the north by a hill 470 feet high, it has four main streets, branching off from a central square, and possesses a cathedral, a university (1604), a theatre, a botanic garden, a fine aqueduct, &c. The cruciform cathedral, dating from 781, but mainly rebuilt between 1388 and 1528, is a noble specimen of richly ornamented Gothic, with a tower 284 feet high, the remains of fourteen early kings and queens of Asturias, many much-prized relics, and a fine old library. In or near the city there are several ancient Romanesque churches. Linens, woollens, hats, and firearms are manufactured; whilst in the neighbourhood are many ironworks, and at Prutia (12 miles W.) a government foundry. Pop. (1897) 46,376. Oviedo (ancient Asturum Lucus or Ovetum) now gives its name to the old province of Asturias; it was known during the middle ages as Civitas Episcoporum, because many of the Spanish prelates, dispossessed of their sees by the Moors, took refuge here. It was twice plundered by the French of its ecclesiastical and other treasures, in 1809 and 1810.