Carlos Lobo Square: Franciscan Fathers church and Alas chapel

Chapter 4/10 · Avilés

This is Carlos Lobo Square, one of the oldest in Avilés. Here, beside the old harbour, goods arriving by sea came into the town, and there were salt warehouses, a very important product for the town in the Middle Ages.

In front of you is the church of the Franciscan Fathers, the oldest building preserved in the urban centre, Romanesque, from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It was the parish church of San Nicolás de Bari until 1849, when the parish moved to the old Franciscan convent on Calle San Francisco, which we will see later. Today this church is dedicated to San Antonio de Padua. Inside lies Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, born in the town, according to tradition, in 1519, who founded Saint Augustine, in Florida, in 1565.

Attached to the church is the Alas Chapel, from the fourteenth century, on the move from Romanesque to Gothic, declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in 1991. It was the funeral chapel of a family of powerful merchants. It is small, with a square plan, the family crest, and a doorway decorated with bearded and winged faces. Now we go down to Plaza de España along Calle La Fruta, today full of shops and café terraces.

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