Covadonga

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La Santa Cueva.
La Santa Cueva.

Covadonga - (Asturian: Cuadonga), from Latin Cova Dominica, "Cavern of the Lady", Arabic: صخرة بلاي Ṣakhraḧ Bilāy - is a village in Asturias, northwestern Spain, among the Picos de Europa mountains where Iberian Christians won the battle over the Moors in 722 AD. This was the first significant Christian victory over the occupying Moors; as such, it is often considered to be the start of the Reconquista, the 770-year effort to expel the Moors from Iberia. Covadonga is currently a Marian shrine. The Spanish Army has, over the years, named several of its units "Covadonga".

In the mountains above the town there are lakes, Lagos de Covadonga, and the road leading to the lakes is often featured in the Vuelta a España bicycle race.

In 1865, during the Chincha Islands War, Chile captured a Spanish ship called the Covadonga, at the Battle of Papudo on November 26, 1865. Recommissioned under the same name by the Chilean Navy, the Covadonga participated in the War of the Pacific.

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