Avilés

Casco Histórico

This whole area was declared a Historic-Artistic Site in the fifties, as it houses some of the most important monuments, both civil and religious, of the city. It boasts the second best preserved historic center of the Asturian community, only behind that of Oviedo. The remains of the old wall that surrounded the town and several palaces and stately homes, such as the Ferrera Palace, the Camposagrado Palace and the Valdecarzana Palace, among others, stand out. As for religious monuments, it houses the chapel of Alas, the church of San Nicolás de Bari and Sabugo, among many others. It also stands out for its countless squares, fountains and cobbled streets and asoportalada; perfect places where you can immerse yourself in the history of this magnificent town.

Factoria Cultural

The Cultural Factory of Avilés is located on the old building that, in former times, housed an old shirt factory. This was inaugurated in 2010 and is divided into four floors, where we can find the library for the students of the center, the warehouse, two changing rooms, two computer classrooms, four classrooms for ceramics workshops, a classroom dedicated to painting workshop, a classroom to learn skills in bookbinding, leather goods and glass and another classroom for engraving.

The interior of the building also houses the Municipal School of Ceramics and the Popular University. Therefore, in this center, each year is held the Ceramics Fair, which is attended by numerous ceramic artists from different backgrounds and the White Night, which tries to get citizens to participate actively in the programs of activities that take place (exhibitions, workshops, concerts, etc.)

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Faro de San Juan

Also known as the lighthouse of San Juan is located in the middle of the estuary of Aviles, specifically at the “tip of the castle. Its construction dates back to the mid-nineteenth century, there being an initial project that intended to locate it in the nearby tip of Horcada but being this so exposed to the continuous storms that hit these shores was finally decided by this other area.

In addition to its main function of guiding the boats, due to its strategic location, it is an exceptional viewpoint of the entire estuary of Aviles, there is a small garden that borders it and very close to an old military battery

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Fuente de los caños de San Francisco

The Caños de San Francisco is one of the most unique fountains in the area as it consists of a front from which six taps in the shape of a human head emerge from which water flows into a rectangular basin.

The three coats of arms on the front are also noteworthy, two of them of Avilés and the other of royal arms.

Iglesia de los Padres Franciscanos

Church dedicated to San Antonio de Padua and built in the 12th century in Romanesque style. Of this construction highlights its abundant decoration in the capitals, corbels and metopes and the scene of original sin carved in one of the capitals. Inside is the tomb of Pedro Menéndez, founder of the oldest city in the United States of America: St. Augustine (Florida).

Iglesia de San Nicolás de Bari

The Church of San Nicolás de Bari is currently the headquarters of the Franciscan Fathers but was originally built to meet the needs of the population of Aviles between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. From this period it preserves the western doorway, its window and the front wall. This window forms two semicircular archivolts and has a dust cap, however in its columns you can hardly recognize the decoration of the capitals they present.

This temple was subjected to numerous later reforms and additions such as the Chapel of the Wings or the Chapel of Pedro Solis.

The church has been subjected to numerous later reforms and additions such as the Chapel of the Wings or the Chapel of Pedro Solis.

The main entrance to this temple is located on the west facade, which has a projecting body with tiled roof supported by corbels and from which stands out the figure of a feline with open claws. This doorway also has three semicircular archivolts protected by a checkered dust cap. Of these archivolts, the outer ones are supported on columns with capitals while the inner one is supported on jambs. The capitals of the doorway are decorated, on the left side, with the Original Sin and on the right side with two birds facing each other.

Iglesia de Santa Maria Magdalena de los Corros

The church of Santa María Magdalena de los Corros was built between the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th century, although only the western doorway and the triumphal arch remain from its origins. Originally it was a temple of small proportions that had a single nave and straight chancel.

The triumphal arch of the church is quite sober and has two semicircular archivolts without any decoration, its imposts are smooth and the decoration of the capitals is composed of plant motifs. However, the western doorway is much more elaborate since it has two semicircular archivolts protected by a decorated with checkerboard and semicircular decoration. The first archivolt has a thread with a zigzag motif and the second houses a succession of circles and a concave molding with small trefoils and a bocel with semicircles on the intrados.

Iglesia de Santo Tomás de Canterbury

The Church of Santo Tomás de Cantorbery also popularly known as the New Church of Sabugo has a single nave distributed around a basilica plan that ends in a semicircular chancel.

It is worth mentioning the main façade due to the portal composed of four archivolts with bocel moldings and barely decorated spouts that rest on columns topped by four capitals on each side with carvings in which the decorations are combined. On the sides of the temple there is also a doorway formed by three semicircular arches and capitals with vegetal and animal decoration.

In its interior it has an elevated choir and two chapels on the gospel side. At present it is covered by a vault with lunettes in the nave and a ribbed vault in the chancel.

Iglesia vieja de Sabugo

The Old Church of Sabugo is considered one of the main signs of identity of the city of Avilés since, in addition to being located in the old part of the city, it preserves the single nave and semicircular apse of its origins in the thirteenth century.

The Old Church of Sabugo is considered one of the main signs of identity of the city of Avilés.

Subsequently, this church was modified and enlarged in the XVII-XVIII centuries opening large openings and raising the elevation and cover with masonry and ashlar. It is worth mentioning the south doorway, formed by a projecting body of the building and covered with tile roof supported by corbels and the western doorway, which houses the main entrance to the temple formed by four archivolts supported on columns and capitals decorated with animals and plants.

Museo Alfercam

The Alfercam Museum is an interactive space that allows, through headphones provided at the entrance, to discover the different types of ethnic music, even being able to hear the war sounds of war vehicles.

This is divided into two parts, the automotive area, where visitors can learn about the cars and motorcycles of the previous century and the music area with approximately 500 instruments.

HOURS

Monday to Sunday from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 20:00

INFORMATION OF INTEREST

Web: www.museoalfercam.com Telephone: 984 839 115

Museo de la historia urbana

The Urban History Museum is located in the historic center of the town of Avilés, specifically in the street of La Ferrería in front of the church of San Nicolás de Bari and the Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Center.

The Museum of Urban History is located in the historic center of the town of Avilés, specifically in the street of La Ferrería in front of the church of San Nicolás de Bari and the Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Center.

The museum offers a curious circuit that begins telling the evolution of Avilés, connecting with the room in which the current situation is explained through a large window. From the window you can contemplate the work of Oscar Niemeyer, the only one he created in Spain.

Palacio de Balsera

The Balsera Palace, declared of Cultural Interest since 1991, is located in the city of Aviles and was built in the first decade of the twentieth century at the request of Victoriano Fernandez Balsera, a wealthy merchant of the city.

The exterior of the palace combines modernist and eclectic styles and has an exuberant decoration. Its plan is a set of volumes at different heights and the interior of the palace is preserved in very good condition.

Currently the palace houses the headquarters of the Julián Orbón Municipal Conservatory of Music.

Palacio de Camposagrado

The Camposagrado Palace is a palatial building of baroque style of which two of its oldest main facades of the seventeenth century are preserved. The set in general confers a defensive character and houses three floors: the lower closed by a small arrow slits, the intermediate with wide galleries with segmental arches supported by Tuscan columns and the third floor is an addition of the nineteenth century.

The palace has three floors: the lower closed by a small arrow slits, the intermediate with wide galleries with segmental arches supported by Tuscan columns and the third floor is an addition of the nineteenth century.

It is worth noting the facade built by Francisco Menéndez Camina in the late seventeenth century, as it has a sober ornamentation of which protrude two towers and the interior should highlight the monumental stone staircase from which you can access today to the School of Art of the Principality of Asturias.

INFORMATION OF INTEREST

Telephone: 984 836 725

Palacio de Ferrera

The Ferrera Palace is one of the oldest baroque buildings in the town of Avilés. It dates from 1974 and served as the residence of the Marquis of Ferrera and his close relatives. Today, after undergoing a complete renovation, it is used as a five-star hotel by the NH Hoteles chain.

Palacio de Llano Ponte

The house-palace of Llano Ponte was built, at the request of Rodrigo García Pumarino, in the early eighteenth century by architects Francisco Menéndez Camina and Domingo Suárez Solar. After being used as a home, it became a convent, a school and even a movie theater until 2013.

It should be noted that the exterior of this building expands up to five vertical series of arches forming the arcades of the first floor on which the balconies of the upper floor are supported. The ends of the building are delimited by cut-out pilasters decorated with vegetal motifs and the family coat of arms.

Palacio de Valdecarzana

The Palace of Valdecarzana is a palatial building of the fourteenth century that is the oldest building in Aviles and is the only non-religious center of Gothic and the only example of bourgeois architecture in the town.

At present, only the main facade of the original building is preserved, which is divided into two floors: the lower one, used as commercial premises, and the upper floor, used as a dwelling.

The legend of this house tells that Pedro I the Cruel spent the night here when he freed Aviles from the siege of his bastard brother in 1352.

INFORMATION OF INTEREST

Telephone: 985 544 325

Palacio municipal

The Municipal Palace is a Town Hall that houses the City Council of Aviles and whose works began in 1670 to be completed 7 years later. This project was commissioned to the architect Juan de Estrada.

Traditionally this building was not attached to the wall but over time began to increase to join it. The two-story facade separated by an impost stands out from this composition. The lower floor houses a succession of eleven arches that create the arcades and support the upper floor creating the balconies.

Parque del Muelle

In the past, this was the site of the town’s dock and commercial port, which enjoyed a bustling activity. Today this green area is notable for housing an impressive sculptural ensemble acquired by the municipal government at the end of the 19th century. All of them are replicas of some of the Greek sculptures of the Louvre Museum in Paris, representing among others the gods Artemis, Aphrodite or the Allegories.

Parque Ferrera

This wooded space with wide paths was created with the aim of serving as a place of recreation and leisure for the nobles of the city, specifically for those who lived in the palace of Ferrera. Inspired by the typical English parks, it has been in public use since the 20th century, after years of negotiations between its former owners and the municipal government. Initially the area closest to the palace, known as the French garden, was reserved for the use and enjoyment of the Marquise because there was a splendid red beech tree which she was very fond of.

Today all the people of Aviles can enjoy the multitude of tree species, paths, street furniture, a kiosk or the municipal house of culture that houses inside.

Plaza Mayor

The Plaza Mayor is an irregularly shaped square with the monumental City Hall building and, opposite it, another old-looking building that today houses a luxury hotel.

The Plaza Mayor is an irregularly shaped square with the monumental City Hall building and, opposite it, another old-looking building that today houses a luxury hotel.

The Plaza Mayor is a square with an irregular shape.

Centro Cultural Internacional

The Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Center is located in a building designed by the famous Brazilian architect in Spain and is located in a privileged space, between the estuary and the historic center of the city of Avilés.

The site consists of four buildings connected by a grandiose square and it is in this place where the visitor has the opportunity to admire an original and, at the same time, special environment that shows the author’s own hallmarks: the scale of the buildings, the visual extension of space, the white color of the roofs simulating the horizon and the different ways of drawing a curved line.

Teatro palacio Valdés

The Palacio Valdés theater was built by Manuel del Busto and declared an Asset of Cultural Interest with Monument category in 1982, for being one of the most important works of architecture of the early twentieth century.

The Palacio Valdés theater was built by Manuel del Busto and declared an Asset of Cultural Interest with Monument category in 1982, for being one of the most important works of architecture of the early twentieth century.

It is, therefore, the most significant and valuable theater in the city of Avilés and is located next to important buildings such as the Auditorium of the Casa de Cultura and the headquarters of the “EscenAvilés” programs.