Temporary exhibitions

 Exhibition

COVAGONGA 722-2022. TRACES AND STORIES

ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF ASTURIAS. December 22, 2022 - April 9, 2023

The year 2022 marks the 1300th anniversary of the most commonly accepted date of the Battle of Covadonga. As part of the program of celebrations and events commemorating the anniversary, the Archaeological Museum of Asturias is organizing an exhibition on the archaeological context of the Iberian Peninsula around 700, roughly ranging from the last Visigothic reigns (from Wamba to Agila II) to the beginning of the independent emirate in al-Andalus. 

The exhibition, curated by María Antonia Pedregal and César García de Castro, has brought together more than 140 pieces from 21 cultural institutions and museums from all over the country that make up a unique collection of testimonies on the archaeological context surrounding the battle, to which the traditional typology exclusively assigned dates from the 7th century and which provide interesting data on the warriors of Cuadonga.

Covadonga 722-2022. The traces and the stories draw the material environment of the time, articulating the two versions (Latin and Andalusian) of the same period through the documents that constitute the primary source to reconstruct the facts. Ceramic pieces, daily use tools, coins, maps, warrior brooches, funerary steles and weapons give an account of the type of confrontations that took place and provide us with interesting data about the warriors of Cuadonga.

The exhibition is divided into several sections. The first one reflects the Arab and Latin sources that narrated the event at the time. It also reviews the ideological components that accompany Cuadonga in the history of Asturias and Spain. The presentation distinguishes the historical and religious planes.

A second milestone provides context on the geographical space and time of the battle, marked by the Arab-Omeyan expansion across the Mediterranean and the occupation of the Iberian Peninsula.