Nava Cider Museum, Asturias. Asturias Museums

From the apple to the culinary cider in Nava

Few things have as much capacity to represent the Asturian essence in such a minimalist way as an apple or a bottle of cider. Both the fruit and its juice are present in the tradition and contemporaneity of the region, linked to social treatment and Asturian spirit. The cultivation of the apple tree in the Principality dates back to "the night of time" In the absence of excessively ancestral testimonies, there is written evidence of its existence before the Romans, thanks to Latin chronicles and documents prior to them. The first historical reference to cultivation dates back to the time of the Asturians.

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coordinates Latitude: 43.3579788 Length: -5.5055289

The village of Nava, in the geographic center of autonomy, has the privilege of hosting the museum dedicated to this important hallmark. The town has turned its love to the Museum from the beginning, not in vain in a few places it feels like this place on the block. In the municipality concentrates one of the largest cider productions in the north of the peninsula. How good is your cider is highlighted even more in these times in which the quality criteria, encouraged by the recent denomination of origin, they demand the autochthonous cultivation of the apple. Nava is ready to continue producing, attend to quality and keep in shape a museum that beats to the rhythm of consumption and Asturian feeling.

The lobby has a large counter offering information on exhibitions, guided tours and assistance in other languages for foreign visitors ... The facilities are conveniently adapted for the visit of people with any degree of disability, and everything is cozy and hospitable, with a precise lighting setting, spacious rooms and high ceilings.

Through a barrel, as if trying to enter another dimension, we go from the reception to the actual exhibition space. The visit is intended to run parallel to cider cycle, therefore the visitor does not cease to be amazed at the tremendous analogy that is fulfilled between the museum and its own object. We walk from spring to spring or from pollination to pollination.

We come to fall and the different varieties of apple used to make cider are selected in different containers and they are temporarily stored in the apple groves of the llagares. Once selected, the apples are crushed to facilitate their pressing. The steps begin and end in a ingenious interactivity in which the spectator uses the apple as a raw material, entrance ticket.

From an optical illusion, the visitor can appreciate the different processes that operate on apple juice to become cider. As in a winery or cellar, living situations typical of the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, The gadgets used to handle the cider are shown.

The environments that the cider world brings with it take on a life of their own in a winery or cellar where the liquid element sleeps until consumption. And how to drink cider is a constituent act of the "Chigres" or cider houses, the museum also stages one of those corners of popular influx, including basic elements of daily consumption. At the same time, as traditional games are closely related to cider, and so that nothing is lacking, a traditional bowling.

In the social "output" of this regional drink is also found the folklore. The visitor can try to compose for a while in an electronic bagpipe, or be carried away by the traditional sounds that the instrument has memorized.

The microcosm of the museum, therefore, extends from minuscule pollen to the most multitudinous festivals where the escanciados proliferate. And the music accompanies attending to its place of enjoyment, the press, the windlass ... that's why the bagpipes and the drum are heard, the tunes. Asturias in general is music and smell of appleat least in there.

The museum also has a large educational program, which can be consulted at the information desk. The Foundation that administers the center not only worries about the informative wrapping but also reaches the very heart of the apple, worrying about the biological and technological improvements associated with cultivation, production and consumption.

Cider Museum Hours

Summer time from 15/06 to 15/09
· Closed Monday.
· Tuesday from 12:00 to 14:00. and from 16:00 p.m. to 20:00 p.m.
· Wednesday to Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 14:00 p.m. and from 16:00 p.m. to 20:00 p.m.
· Sunday from 12:00 to 14:00. and from 17:00 p.m. to 20:00 p.m.

· Winter hours from 16/09 to 14/06
· Closed Monday.
· Tuesday from 11:00 to 14:00. and from 16:00 p.m. to 19:00 p.m.
· Wednesday to Friday from 11:00 to 14:00. and from 16:00 p.m. to 19:00 p.m.
Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 15:00 p.m. and from 16:30 p.m. to 20:00 p.m.
Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 14:00 p.m.

On 24, 25, 31 December, 1 and 6 January, the museum will be closed.

Source: Asturias Cider Museum.