The Holy Ark, one of the largest reliquaries in the Christian world, has a legendary origin. Tradition places its origin in Jerusalem, where Christians would have taken it from before the Muslim advance. The ark would have travelled through North Africa, entered the Iberian Peninsula and finally ended up in Oviedo. The countless relics that were brought from the Holy Land were discovered in 1075, during the solemn opening of the box in the presence of King Alfonso VI, and when knowledge of the discovery spread throughout Europe it contributed greatly to a surge in pilgrimages. After that opening ceremony, the wooden ark was gilded with engraved silver and precious stones, and through the application we can see in detail the rich iconography that is represented on each of its sides: Christ’s crucifixion, various scenes of the life of Mary, a Pantocrator among angels and surrounded by the apostles, and Michael the Archangel battling the dragon, flanked by a cherub and a seraph.