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 council of 26 square kilometers of surface, located in the center of the Asturian coast and just 30 kilometers from Oviedo. To the north it limits with the Cantabrian Sea, to the east with the council of Gozón, to the south with Corvera, and to the west with Castrillón and Illas.
How to get
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 settlements, Neolithic, and some part of the Roman era the early days of the council of Avilés are somewhat confusing. The first evidences documented faithfully go back to the 10th century, when the city was located at the bottom of the estuary, protected from pirate incursions by the Castle of Gauzón, of which there is still some vestige. During the Middle Ages, Avilés reaffirms as the port of Oviedo in its commercial aspect. The port divided the city in two, separating its main economic activities (fishermen in Sabugo and artisans and merchants in the walled town).
The urban and commercial development of the city took shape in the final stretch of the Middle Ages, when it was granted the jurisdiction by Alfonso VI. This document gives you a set of privileges and a political orientation always 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.
Installation the metallurgical company Ensidesa (currently Aceralia), which at 1957 ignited its first high furnace, overturned the economy, history and demographics of Avilés. In this case, the migratory current that came from all over Spain multiplied and rejuvenated the population of the council, while at the same time producing undesirable developmental effects in the environment. A social earthquake and economic progress that, in a singular way, always respected a historic center in which indelible traces of its previous tradition are preserved.
What to see
The Niemeyer Center
The Niemeyer Center is a unique species of its kind, a cultural agglutinator who seeks the…
- Palace of the Marquis of Camposagrado.
- Chapel of the Wings.
- Galiana Street
- Dock Park.
- Ferrera Park.
Excursions
The Camino de Santiago in Asturias
Although the Camino de Santiago on its Asturian side is less traveled compared to other routes of...
- Salinas beach.
- Descent of the Nalón.
Parties
- Antroxu (carnival), February-March.
- St. Augustine, August.
Bollu Party in Avilés
With more than 120 years of history, the Bollu Festival in Avilés is one of the milestones of Holy Week…
Markets
- Sample of Cheese and Wine, end of May.
- Old and Used Book Fair, May-June.
- Cattle Exhibition Competition, August.
Tourism offices
Tourist information office
Ruiz Gómez 21, bass. 33400 Avilés. Telf .: 985 54 43 25. Fax: 985 54 63 15
Tourist Promotion of the City Council of Avilés
Phone and Fax: 985 54 22 00
Text: © Ramón Molleda for asturias.com
