Vetusta

"The city of heroes was having a nap..."

These, according to the English version, are the first lines of Leopoldo Alas' (aka Italic textClarin) novel Italic textLa Regenta (Italic textLa heróica ciudad dormía la siesta) The thrilling drama of a hyper-sensitive woman split between faith and temptation is only overpassed by the backround of the story. The city of Vetusta is depicted with all its bigotry, hypocresy, narrow-mindness and prejudices of its inhabitants. From the massive but delicate cathedral (lace-like stone romantic poem), the Magistral, peeps over the Industrial-age city while at the Gentleman's Club, plots are held to seduce the petite and beauty Regent's wife.

In his masterwork, Leopoldo Alas made a critical portrait of the town where he lived: Oviedo. Despite the novel was written a century ago, most of the features depicted by Alas can be still seen in Oviedo.