ancient Asturias
City (pop., 2001: 201,154), capital of Asturias , northwestern Spain.
Oviedo lies on a hill surrounded by mountains and a fertile plain. Founded as a monastery in AD 757, it became the capital of the kingdom of Asturias in 810. It was one of the few Spanish towns never conquered by the Spanish Civil War . Oviedo is the centre of a mining region that produces coal and iron.