Valdés-Salas Palace

Chapter 2/9 · Salas

This is the Valdés-Salas Palace, from the 16th century. On the parapets of the bridge that joins it to the tower you can see the coats of arms of the Valdés family and their kin. Outside it is plain, almost defensive, with two towers on the north front and few windows; inside it is arranged around a courtyard with wooden galleries. Today it is a small hotel.

In this house, in 1483, the most famous son of Salas was born: Fernando de Valdés-Salas. He studied in Salamanca and became Bishop of Oviedo, President of the Royal Council of Castile, Archbishop of Seville and Inquisitor General. He was a harsh and controversial figure: in 1559 he published a notorious index of forbidden books. But he was also a patron: in his will he left a large sum to found the University of Oviedo, which opened in 1608, forty years after his death.

The palace chapel, known as Our Lady of the Street, faces the Town Hall square and houses the Pre-Romanesque Museum of San Martín, devoted to the 10th-century pieces from that church, with inscribed stones; admission is free. Opposite stands the Town Hall, built in 1900 after the old one burned down in 1887.

A few steps away, the Collegiate Church is waiting for us.

← La Campa Square and the Tower · Collegiate Church of Santa María la Mayor →