Chapel of Covadonga or San Ildefonso

At the end of the XIV century, Bishop Gutierre de Toledo (1377-1389) ordered the construction of a funerary chapel attached to the apse of the pre-Romanesque cathedral, dedicated to San Ildefonso, and which, according to the documentation, was "grande et onrrada". It was built between 1379 and 1382, housed numerous tombs and served as a meeting space for the council. It had three altars and in the center was the funerary bundle of the founder. The construction of the ambulatory in 1621 forced its demolition and a new chapel was built on the site it occupied, the work of Juan de Naveda, between 1633 and 1635.

The current chapel is dedicated to the Virgin of Covadonga. It is a classicist building, like the contemporary ambulatory, and its front wall corresponds to the northern wall of the Holy Chamber, where you can see the old access doors to the crypt and to the chapel of San Miguel.

During the revolutionary events of October 1934, the blasting carried out in the Holy Chamber also caused damage to this chapel, which had to be repaired.

The current altarpiece is a light wooden structure that houses an image of La Santina imitating the Covadonga cave. At the feet of the Virgin, in an ark, rest the remains of San Melchor de Quirós (1824-1858), the first Asturian saint. This chapel is also dedicated to him, as some of his personal belongings are presented in a niche and at the entrance to it is the chest in which his remains were repatriated to Spain from Vietnam, where he was martyred.

https://catedraldeoviedo.com/conoce-cada-rincon/capillas/capilla-de-covadonga/