Avilés Asturias: what to see and do Avilés...

Avilés: basic information on the map

See on the map Aviles: basic information

Latitude: 43.5562630 Length: -5.9266090
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Avilés faces the present with alternative industries and services, environmental improvements to alleviate the effects of the 60's development and aesthetic improvements in its surroundings and in its urban center, in whose center they still surprise the hearth and abundance of its arcades.

It is a small municipality of 26 square kilometers, located in the center of the Asturian coast and just 30 kilometers from Oviedo. To the north it borders the Cantabrian Sea, to the east the municipality of Gozón, to the south Corvera, and to the west Castrillón and Illas.

How to get to

It is one of the best communicated councils in the region. Together with Oviedo and Gijón, it forms an almost perfect triangle in the center of Asturias. It is reached by motorway and by national highway, there is no loss. It could also be reached by sea and by plane, since the Principado airport is located a few kilometers away in the town of Ranón.

Distances

Oviedo 30 km. // Gijon 25 km.

History

Although there is evidence of Paleolithic and Neolithic settlements, and some Roman artifacts, the early history of the Avilés council remains somewhat unclear. The first reliable documented evidence dates back to the 10th century , when the city was located at the head of the estuary, protected from pirate raids by Gauzón Castle, of which some vestiges still remain. During the Middle Ages, Avilés established itself as Oviedo's commercial port. The port divided the city in two, separating its main economic activities (fishermen in Sabugo and artisans and merchants in the walled town).

The city's urban and commercial development took shape in the final years of the Middle Ages, when it was granted a charter by Alfonso VI . This document bestowed upon it a series of privileges and a political orientation that remained close to the King in the centuries that followed.

Since the mid-nineteenth century the port of Aviles has become a reference for transoceanic emigration. Close to the twentieth century, the port was used for the coal trade of Asturian basins in full splendor.

The establishment of the metallurgical company Ensidesa (now Aceralia), which fired up its first blast furnace in 1957, transformed the economy, history, and demographics of Avilés. The influx of migrants from all over Spain multiplied and rejuvenated the municipality's population, while also producing undesirable developmental effects on the surrounding area. This social upheaval and economic progress, uniquely, always respected the historic center, where indelible traces of its earlier traditions remain.