Church of Santa Cruz de Cangas de Onís facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Church of the True Cross of Cangas de Onís Iglesia de la Santa Cruz de Cangas de Onís
The entrance to the chapel today
Religion
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Province	Asturias
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Chapel
Year consecrated	27 October 737
Location
Location	Cangas de Onís, Spain
Architecture
Architectural type	Chapel
Architectural style	Pre-Romanesque
Groundbreaking	437

The Church of the True Cross of Cangas de Onís is a small Roman Catholic chapel. It is located in Cangas de Onís, a town in northern Spain. This town was once the first capital of the Kingdom of Asturias.

This special chapel was built on top of an ancient stone tomb called a dolmen. A dolmen is a prehistoric structure made of large stones. King Favila of Asturias and his queen, Froiliuba, started building the chapel in the year 737. It was officially opened on October 27, 737. A stone from its original building is very important. People call it the first written record of the Reconquista. The Reconquista was a long period when Christian kingdoms took back land in Spain.

The Santa Cruz chapel once held the famous Cruz de la Victoria. This is an oak cross that Pelagius of Asturias, King Favila's father, supposedly carried. He carried it during the important Battle of Covadonga. This chapel was likely the first church built after the Islamic invasion of Spain in 711.

History of the Chapel

The chapel has been rebuilt completely two times. The first time was in 1632. The second time was after it was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War in 1936. After the war, local leaders made a decision. They wanted to show the ancient dolmen underneath the chapel. This dolmen had been hidden by churches since the 300s. Only the original foundation stone from the first building still exists today.

Important Burials

• Favila of Asturias
• Froiliuba (King Favila's wife)

Images for kids

• 

  The dolmen, now visible through the chapel floor.

• 

  The foundation stone reads (in translation from the original Latin):
  . . . and his children, for whom by it, O Christ, by your sacrifice be all your grace, and after the course of this life may they reach your generous mercy. Here were consecrated altars to Christ by the priest Asterius, on the three-hundredth day of the year in the sixth age of the world in the Era 775.

See also

In Spanish: Capilla de Santa Cruz (Cangas de Onís) para niños

• Asturian architecture
• Catholic Church in Spain