Plaza del Paraguas (Umbrella Square), Oviedo

Umbrella Square is a small but distinctive corner of Oviedo’s Old Town. The site was once occupied by the Romanesque Church of San Isidoro. After the church was demolished, its final surviving arch was transferred to San Francisco Park. The plaza gained its present character in 1929, when municipal engineer Ildefonso Sánchez del Río designed a large concrete canopy in the form of an inverted umbrella.

Built to shelter milk sellers arriving from surrounding villages, it gave the square both its name and its market-like identity. A scale model of this unusual structure can still be found by the Cuatro Caños Fountain, offering a reminder of its early 20th-century role in the daily life of the city.

Today the space reads as a compact social hub rather than a market. The big “umbrella” offers a natural meeting point, and the surrounding bars and cafés keep the square lively from late afternoon into the evening. In summer, Umbrella Square occasionally hosts small concerts and events, adding a contemporary layer to its working-day past.