Church of Santa María (Soto de Luiña)

About

Iglesia de Santa María (Soto de Luiña) is a church in Asturias, Spain. It was built in the 18th century and is located in the municipality of Cudillero, in the principality of Asturias (Spain). Together with the Rectory House (Casa Rectoral), it forms an old pilgrim’s hospital connected to the Camino de Santiago.

It was constructed over a previous chapel or hermitage, located over an old spring that gave the place a certain divine character. The temple has the floor plan of a latin cross, with three naves and 3 chapels, with a semicircular apse and a square tower at the foot, in grey stone and blank walls, with semicircular arches, 3 floors, and stone and wood niches. The lateral porticos are supported by columns.

It ends with an octagonal capital of exposed ashlars crowned by one giant stone. In the corners there are zoomorphic gargoyles. The first work carried out was the tower, designed by Master Domingo Fernández; almost parallel to it, the Main and Rosary chapels were built, with this work being finished by Pedro García.

Later, and after a long dispute with the town, the Saint Inés chapel was built by Don Lope Matías Menéndez de Luarca y Tiena, and in the mid-18th century the...