Iglesia Santa Olaya Inglés - ayto-grado
Church of Santa Eulalia
The parish church of Santa Eulalia, one of the most primitive of its period, has a single nave and a square apse with two exterior porches. It first appears in documentation in 1086 determining it as Romanic although the square apse seems of a more recent time because of its pointed vault. From its Romanic features, the eye is mostly drawn toward the several modillions and the interior façade of the nave, left of which is very short with several archivolts and two columns between knuckles. One is decorated with a male figure and the other with a female, both of them with their genitals overly emphasized.
The door gives access to a large parallel room leading to the nave and is covered by a pointed vault with a small room at the end. All of this gives the impression that it dates from around the 13th-14th centuries.
In the interior there are up to 46 numbered sepulchral stones.
The façade, a bell gable with triple arch and arcades, a front almost closed and the side opened over upright poles are from the 18th century.
It is very curious that the stone sepulchre is preserved in the interior without more decoration than very old fashioned wreaths and despite the lack of inscription, it is considered to be attributed to either bishop Ataulfo or Dolfo.
According to legend, during the reign of King Bermudo II, a bishop from Iria (Santiago de Compostela) was on his way to Oviedo to present himself in front of the king and expiate the sin he had been accused off. As the bishop reached the hill of El Fresno and beheld the church of La Mata, he revealed his love for the location of the temple so much so that he decided he wanted to be buried there, far from thinking that very soon after that, God may fulfill his desire. The following day, the Bishop from Galicia continued on his way to Oviedo and presented himself to the king. The monarch was angrily waiting for him and ordered for the release a fierce bull to charge him but all of the sudden, as by some divine miracle, the bull came to a halt in front of him and bent down meekly, placing his horns in the bishops hand. With admiration, the people present asked forgiveness for the Bishop Ataulfo and in rejoice of the miracle and in proving of his innocence, the horns of the bull remained hanging in the cathedral of Oviedo for a long time.
On his way back to Iria, as the Bishop was entering the council of Grado, he suddenly passed away. When his companions decided to keep going on with the corpse, the mules that carried him bolted away towards the church of La Mata where they stopped, forcing the companions to fulfil the desire of the Bishop and bury him there.