Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Oviedo siege – the old town
City site
The story
On 19 July 1936 Colonel Antonio Aranda, who had persuaded Republican leaders he was loyal, declared for the rising and held Oviedo with soldiers, Civil Guards and Falangist volunteers. The city was surrounded by Asturian miners' militias. It survived months of siege, shelling and street fighting, including around the Plaza de la Constitución and the cathedral, until a Nationalist column from Galicia opened a narrow corridor on 16–17 October 1936. The Republican offensive of February 1937, supported by T-26 tanks, failed. The old centre was heavily damaged.
What you can see today
The town hall on Plaza de la Constitución, facing San Isidoro church, in an old quarter that was largely rebuilt after siege damage.
Plan your visit
Central Oviedo, on foot. Earlier versions of this guide listed a memorial to the defenders inside the town hall; whether it is still on display has not been confirmed.
Sources
- tracesofwar.com/sights/90716/Memorial-Killed-Defenders-Oviedo.htm
- tracesofwar.com/sights/90716/Memorial-Killed-Defenders-Oviedo.htm
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Oviedo
Nearby sites
- El Salvador cemetery mass grave, Oviedo · 2 km
- Oviedo front – Cerdeño bunker · 2 km
- Ceares cemetery mass grave, Gijón · 24 km
- Simancas barracks siege memorial, Gijón · 25 km
- El Mazuco & Sierra del Cuera · 80 km
- Convento de San Marcos, León (concentration camp) · 87 km
All 158 sites in Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 →
The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The battlefields, trenches, ruined villages, shelters, museums and memorials of the Spanish Civil War across the whole of Spain, told fairly from both sides.
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