It has an area of 13,560 sq. km. and a population of 1,300,000, of whom 1,200,040 are Catholics distributed in 1,150 parishes, served by 737 diocesan priests and 180 regular clergy; it has a major and a minor seminary, 20 male and 95 female religious communities (Ann. Pont., 1952, p. 306).
The diocese was founded in the 80s under Alfonso II. In the 10th century it was raised to metropolitan status; later it lost this dignity and became a suffragan of Santiago de Compostela, as it remains today. In 1105 Pope Paschal II exempted it, and it remained so until the Concordat of 1851. The cathedral is Gothic, with a transept and choir; three portals in the main façade, erected in 1388–1498 to replace the earlier one built in the 80s.
Its tower is the finest in Spanish Gothic architecture, severely damaged in the Spanish Civil War but rebuilt. Notable also is the *Cámara santa* with historical and artistic treasures of the Middle Ages, including the famous Cross of the Angels, a gift of Alfonso II the Chaste. Of great note is the wooden altarpiece behind the high altar in flamboyant Gothic style. Attached to the cathedral is the cloister, completed at the end of the 15th century. Within the diocese, in a rugged and picturesque location, stands the collegiate abbey of Covadonga, famous because, according to tradition, Pelagius began the Reconquest of Spain from here. It contains the celebrated image of the Virgin known popularly as *la Santina*. Of considerable interest in the vicinity of Oviedo are the churches of Santa María de Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo, in pure Romanesque style, erected in the mid-9th century.