Belonging to Cangas de OnĂs municipality we find the Covadonga parish, a hamlet with 58 inhabitants located in the Picos de Europa National Park (Asturian side), which houses some of the most important monuments in the province of Asturias, mentioned in my previous post.
The Basilica of Santa MarĂa la Real de Covadonga, built in pink limestone from 1877 to 1901, in neo-Romanesque style, is located in front of the legendary cave sanctuary, and it was built to exalt the patriotism and Catholic faith of the Spaniards, recalling the beginnings of the Spanish reconquest against the Muslims.
On the same esplanade of the basilica we find a statue in honor of King Don Pelayo, initiator of the Reconquest (8th century).
Perhaps the most important monument in the area is the Covadonga Sanctuary Cave, which gives its name to this small town (Covadonga in Celtic means "the cave of the sanctuary"), which in addition to a multitude of legends, was also part of an ancient Way of the Cross, and a place where penance was done.
According to one of this legends, the image of the Virgin of Covadonga that King Don Pelayo carried with him, helped him win the war, preventing the arrows of the Muslims from reaching the Christians.
It should be noted that, in the place of the sanctuary housing the virgin inside, neither photos nor videos can be taken.
Befire finishing this article, I'll share with you a YouTube short of the Aguasaliu Waterfall in Beyos Defile (Ponga Natural Park, Asturias), place I went through to go from LeĂłn to Asturias and visit Cangas de OnĂs and Covadonga:
https://youtube.com/shorts/XFEnUAg_lr8?feature=share
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Photographs taken with my Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G camera.
YouTube short recorded with my Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G camera.
Screenshot of the monuments location taken from Google Maps.
Sources on which I relied to give some accurate info about Covadonga monuments, history and legends: (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
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