CANGAS DE ONIS

cangas de onis, or cangas, a town of northern spain, in the province of oviedo; situated on the right bank of the river sella, in a fertile, well-watered, partly wooded, undulating region. pop. (1900) 8537. the trade of cangas de onis is chiefly in live-stock and coal from the neighbouring mines. a latin inscription on the town-hall records the fact that this place was the residence of the first spanish kings after the spread of the moors over the peninsula. here early in the 8th century lived king pelayo, who started the christian reconquest of spain. his historic cave of covadonga is only 8 m. distant (see asturias). the church of the assumption, rebuilt in the 19th century, is on the model and site of an older church of the middle ages. near cangas are ruins and bridges of the roman period.