Santa Cueva de Covadonga

Santa Cueva de Nuestra Señora de Covadonga - Holy Cave of Covadonga

Useful Information

Location:	Lugar Covadonga, s/n, 33589 Covadonga, Asturias, Spain. Road AS-262, south of Soto de Cangas, Covadonga (43.3070603, -5.0540810)
Open:	All year daily 8:30-20:30. [2024]
Fee:	free, donations welcome. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Cave Cave Church Karst Spring
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Covadonga, Lugar Covadonga, s/n, 33589 Covadonga, Asturias, Tel: +34-9858-46096.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

722	Battle of Covadonga was the first Christian victory in the Iberian Peninsula over the Arabs and is the beginning of the Reconquista.
1777	a fire in the cave destroys the beams, the image of the Virgin, jewels, chalices and all the belongings.
1778	current image of the Virgin of Covadonga donated by the Cathedral Chapter of Oviedo
14+15-JUN-1857	visited by the Dukes of Montpensier, Don Antonio de Orleans and Donna María Luisa Fernanda de Borbón.
1858	visited by Queen Isabel II, her chaplain San Antonio Maria Claret and infants Alfonso XII, Prince of Asturias and the Infanta María Isabel, to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Sanctuary.
1872	Benito Sanz y Forés travels to the cave and promotes its renovation.
1874	Benito Sanz y Forés lays the first stone of the chapel dedicated to the Virgin inside the Cave.
02-JUL-1877	construction of the Basilica started with visit by King Alfonso XII.
1902	visit by King Alfonso XIII.
1918	Coronación de la Santina with King Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XII and Queen Victoria Eugenia.
1939	image of the Virgin found in the Embassy of Spain in France, which had disappeared during the civil war.
1976	vist by Kings D. Juan Carlos I and Sofia.
1977	Don Felipe de Borbón declared Principe de Asturias at the sanctuary.

Description

F090-137 — Santa Cueva de Covadonga. Public Domain.

The catholic sanctuary Santa Cueva de Covadonga (Holy Cave of Covadonga) has an impressive cave related specialty: a chapel inside a cave, above a resurgence, waterfall and lake. Located in the Picos de Europa mountains, which are probably the most famous karst area of Spain, it is almost inevitable that this church was built inside a cave. Probably following the appearance of Mary in the cave. The names Covadonga or Cuevadonga originates from the Latin Cova Dominica which translates cave of Our Lady. The cave church is quite important, as it contains the graves of two kings, Pelagius and Alfonso I (*693-✝757). The village is a station on the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James), the northern branch which is called Camino de la Costa (Coastal Way).

After the Islamic-Arab invasion of Spain in 711, the Battle of Guadalete was lost by the Christs. Roderic, the Visigothic King of Spain, was killed. The battle led to the rapid conquest of most of Visigothic Spain. The remnants of the Visigothic nobility retreated to the remote mountains of northern Spain. They elected a man named Pelayo or Pelagius (*685-✝737) as their leader in 718 AD. His father had been a dignitary at the court of the Visigothic King Egica. Pelayo gathered a group of warriors against the Islamic attacks.
In 722, the Arab commander of Spain sent an army to crush the resistance. The Christian army entrenched themselves in the many caves in Covadonga. In one of the caves, a hermit had hidden a statue of the Virgin Mary which had been rescued from the Muslim conquest. According to tradition, Pelayo retreated to this cave and prayed to the Virgin for victory. In the battle that followed, the Christians took advantage of the natural conditions and won the battle. The Moorish commander fell and his soldiers fled. The Battle of Covadonga was the first Christian victory over the Arabs and is considered the beginning of the Reconquista. It established the independence of the Kingdom of Asturias in north-west Spain.

The Santa Cueva is the most important place of the site, and houses the Virgin of Covadonga which is called Santina by the Asturians. Originally the Holy Cave was covered with wood, beams were embedded in the rock, and it seemed a miracle that they did not fall. It was known as “the miracle of Covadonga” because the beams seemed to be a miracle. But in 1777, a fire broke out in the cave. As a result the image of the Virgin, jewels, chalices and all the belongings were destroyed. The current image is from the 16th century. It was donated by the Cathedral Chapter of Oviedo in 1778.

The cave contains the tombs of D. Pelayo at the wall on the right side, and the graves of his wife Gaudiosa and his sister. And it contains the tomb of D. Alfonso I and his wife Hermesinda, who was the daughter of D. Pelayo. The current chapel in the cave was built in the early 1940s, after the end of the Spanish Civil War. The architect was Luis Menéndez Pidal.

At the foot of the cave is a small karst spring, which is called the Fuente de los 7 Canos (Fountain of the 7 Spouts). The name derives from a bowl shaped rock at the spring from which seven small jets fall, which are thought to refer to the seven Sacraments. But the spring is popularly known as the Fuente del Matrimonio (Fountain of Marriage). According to local lore, the Virgin of Covadonga has a very clear fountain, the girl who drinks from it will get married within a year.

The pond which is located below the cave, into which the waterfall plunges, is called El Pozón (The Well). The water originates from the Las Mestas River, which flows through the Vega de Orandi and disappears into the Cueva de Orandi and reappears here after 750 m. The waterfall is quite spectacular during snow melt and after heavy rains.