Saint Eulalia chapel

Saint Eulalia was a girl from Emerita who lived her Christian faith during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian at the beginning of the 4th century, receiving martyrdom for refusing to worship the Roman gods. Her remains arrived in Asturias during the reign of Silo (774-783), specifically to the court of Pravia, and were transferred to Oviedo by Alfonso II (791-842). They were kept in the Holy Chamber until the construction of this chapel.

Santa Eulalia was, since 1631, patron saint of the Diocese of Oviedo and on February 16, 1639, Pope Urban VIII also declared her patron saint of the city of Oviedo and the Principality of Asturias. In 1640, Bishop Antonio Valdés Herrera (1636-1641) commissioned the painter Diego Valentín Díaz (1586-1660) to paint a painting depicting the saint's martyrdom. This painting is currently kept in the sacristy.

Bishop Fray Simón García Pedrejón (1682-1696) decided to build a chapel dedicated to the saint located on the northern side of the temple. The architects Francisco Menéndez Camina, father (1629 -1694) and son (1662 - 1719) were in charge of the construction, and the works were carried out between the years 1690 and 1696. Of the projects that these architects presented to the town hall, The one that described a centralized plant covered by a dome was carried out, under which a canopy was arranged in which to place the chest with the relics of Santa Eulalia.

The main characteristic of this chapel is the colorful decoration that covers the walls and the roof. The girl's martyrdom was narrated on the pendentives of the dome, inspired by the painting by Diego Valentín Díaz.

The canopy, from 1697, is the work of the sculptor Domingo Suárez de la Puente and the assembler Juan García de Ascucha. Of the twenty-two angels that surrounded him, only four remain. The image of the Immaculate Conception on the upper part deserves mention, carved by Suárez de la Puente, following the models of his father-in-law Luis Fernández de la Vega.

The chest in which the remains of Santa Eulalia are preserved is from the Caliphate period (11th century), made of nielloed silver. Each of the faces seen from it is decorated with polylobed fields in which a courtly scene was recorded, always the same, in which two men who appear to be servants flank a man seated on a cushion; the three characters dress in the oriental style. The cover is crossed by an inscription in kufic characters

The chapel complex was completed in 1702 with the transfer of the remains of García Pedrejón, who died in 1696.

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