The court of the young Asturian kingdom was moved to Pravia in 774 by the king, Rey Silo, where it remained until 792.

King Silo and his wife, Queen Adosinda, had the church in Santianes built, the first of the Asturian Pre-Romanesque style. It was there in 785 that the great Beato de Liébana learned through a letter from the Archbishop of Toledo, Elipando, that he was accused of heresy for defending the divinity of Christ. Thus began in Pravia the battle over the theology of Adoptionism which would divide Christianity for years and was finally settled later by the Emperor Charlemagne, himself.