Church of Santa Maria del Naranco

One of the first examples of pre-Romanesque loggia that we know is the double Oriel Window of the building named Santa María de Naranco that was commissioned by the Asturian monarch Ramiro I in the ninth century. It was completed in 848 as part of the palatial complex that was built as a response to the political confrontation between Ramiro I and King Alfonso II. Uno de los primeros ejemplos de logia prerrománica del que tengamos conocimiento es el doble mirador del edificio conocido como Santa María de Naranco, mandado construir por el monarca asturiano Ramiro I en el siglo IX –terminado en 848-, y que formaba parte del complejo palatino nacido como respuesta al enfrentamiento político entre Ramiro I y el rey Alfonso II. The Naranco was a building (20 x 6 meters in plan), which was used for receptions, ceremonies and headquarters of the Court. It consisted of a classroom or meeting room on the top floor, and a hall, on the ground floor. Two beautiful loggias of the short sides of the building, escorted the classroom. In the ground floor, two rooms – one was probably a bathroom – delimited the entrance hall. El Naranco era una laubia, un edificio, de 20 x 6 metros, que serviría para recepciones, ceremonias y sede del Tribunal, compuesto por una aula o sala de reunión en la planta alta, y un recibidor, en planta baja. Dos bellas logias, una en cada extremo del eje longitudinal, flanqueaban el aula, mientras que en planta baja, dos cuartos -uno probablemente para baños- delimitaban el salón de entrada. The loggias repeat the same constructive and architectural concept in the upper central room: on the one hand, the Barrel vault rests on six reinforced arches with stone voussoirs. It is supported on corbels – a constructive solution that has an oriental origin and was recovered by the later roman architecture. On the other hand, the arcade.