Scholars remind us that It was founded by none other than Alfonso II the Chaste, that king who, between wars with Muslims and uncertain alliances with the Franks, still had the time and the spirit to fill Oviedo with temples, palaces and relics. But, let's be honest: from that distant 9th century there is barely a breath of pre-Romanesque architecture left on its walls, an arch here, a few foundations there. Time took care of transforming it in the 12th and 14th centuries, so that What we see today is more a successive recreation than an intact relic..
If anything remains of the temple that Alfonso II the Chaste built, it is precisely that wall panel of the head with the three pre-Romanesque arches, which constitute its architectural coat of arms: blind, severe and solemnThe capitals of the columns feature the Asturian rope-like collar and simple leaves in the style of Roman capitals.
The visitor who leaves the majesty of the Cathedral for a few minutes discovers in San Tirso the exact measure of humanity: a small, sober temple, in which there are no ornamental excesses or ostentatious marbles. A unique style was being developed: Asturian pre-Romanesque, a sign of a political and religious project that sought in architecture a mirror of its legitimacy.
And if we look up towards Naranco, we will find in Santa Maria —a palace turned temple—a more ambitious version of that same idea. There, the arches are no longer three and silent, but a symphony of openings that dialogue with the landscape and the light, becoming a symbol of Ramiro I's power. The bareness of San Tirso is transformed into architectural exuberance, but the root is the same: to affirm the solidity of a power that was still fragile.
Something similar happens in San Julián de los Prados, that spacious and luminous basilica that Alfonso II commissioned for Oviedo, as if he wanted to bring back a piece of lost Toledo. There, the arches multiply and sustain an almost Roman interior space, while the frescoes—now faded—insisted on lending an air of imperial eternity to a provincial court.
And if we approach San Salvador de ValdediósIn Villaviciosa, the arches take on a different character: there the Romanesque style is already announced, with greater spatial complexity, but without losing the aroma of that Asturian art that was born from the need to assert itself among mountains and the will to survive among invasions.
The three arches of San Tirso, then, are like the abbreviated catechism of a style.
It is worth coming in, even if only for a moment, because San Tirso does not ask for solemnity but for company. There is your altarpiece, worthy and luminous, and there the discreet masses still resound, at seven in the evening or at noon on Sundays, as if to remind us that the city not only lives off the bustle of students and bustling hospitality, but also off the slow rhythm of its bells. Inside we can also find the tomb of Balesquita Giráldez, known among other things for being the founder of the so-called Balesquida Chapel.
For its history and architectural beauty, In 1931 this church was classified as a Site of Cultural Interest.
San Tirso el Real mass schedule
- Monday to Friday: 19 p.m.
- Saturdays and holiday eves: 7:00 p.m.
- Sundays and holidays: 12:30 and 19:00.
Source: Archdiocese of Oviedo.
Pre-Romanesque Asturian
The city of Oviedo, as the capital of the Kingdom of Asturias, holds remarkable architectural gems that were forged over 200 years of monarchy and Asturian pre-Romanesque art. These dates back to the beginning of the reign of Don Pelayo in 722 until the death of Alfonso III in 910, when the royal capital was moved to León.
In asturias 14 buildings with a greater or lesser degree of conservation are located, mainly in the center of the region. A visit is highly recommended if you want to get a perspective of this art on a scale and without great fanfare.
Text: © Ramón Molleda for asturias.com
