Guide to the Province of Asturias
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Spain Oviedo Asturias SUMMARY OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 OVIEDO 4 GIJÓN 7 INTINERARIES: The Eastern route 10 The The coastal route 12 The The Western route 14 Dublin United Kingdom Other routes 16 London HOW TO GET THERE, WHERE TO Ireland EAT AND STAY 18 LEISURE AND ENTERTAINMENT 20 Paris USEFUL ADDRESSES 23 France Cantabrian Sea Asturias Madrid Portugal Spain Lisboa Mediterranean Sea Ceuta Melilla Rabat Morocco Atlantic Ocean Canary Islands MAR CANTÁBRICO Playa de Salinas Cabo de Peñas San Esteban Playa de Santa Ría de Avilés Bañugues de Pravia María del Mar Verdicio C Cabo Vidio Luanco O Ría del Eo Valdepares Puerto Cabo Busto Viavélez Ortiguera Ría de Navia S Tapia de Casariego de Vega Castañedo Salinas Antromero Candás T 634 Navia Cudillero Musel A P Canero Cadavedo Avilés Perlora Figueras La Caridad Artedo El Pito Playa de San Lorenzo Ribadeo Luarca 632 A-8 V Las Vegas Prendes GIJÓN Ta z o n e s Cabo Lastres E Castropol Muros RíaEl de VillaviciosaPuntal CORUÑA 135 km CORUÑA Ta baza P R Coaña Arbòn Soto del Venta D A La Veguiña Brieves de Nalón Nubledo Serín Barco Pentanes del Pobre Lastres E Vegadeo Cueva de Candamo Lagar Pravia Vega 632 Colunga La Vega 640 634 Vegafriosa San Román Pedroso San Tirso Boal Villayón de Candamo A-66 Villaviciosa Caravia Ribadesella Navelgas Pto. de 650 Valdedios Paramios Rozada La Espina Posada Anes Prado Playa de BarroPlaya de Celorio de Abrés Cornellana Cueva de Villahormes Noreña Collada Libardón Mirador 67 km SANTANDER Tito Bustillo 634 Celorio A Pontenova Bárcena La Espina Lugones El Sueve del Fito Llovio Bres Valdedo Salas Santa Eulalia 1161 Nueva Barro Llanes del Monasterio OVIEDO Pola de Siero Collía Llamigo Posada Pechón Taramundi Hospital Grado Cueva de Poo Arriondas el Buxu Vidiago La Franca Villanueva Tineo Nava Puente de San Martín 634 P Avín Colombres de Oscos San Martín Gera El Crucero Las Caldas San Martín Bendones Cangas Rozagas Alles de Oscos Murielos Pola de Soto de Riaño Soto de Cangas o a La Florida Infiesto i Porcilles de Onís Benia Prado E R s v Allande Ribera Langreo re Pesoz a Villanueva í Covadonga ío a o C LUGO 70 km R Santa Eulalia N Santa Carreña de Arenas a Panes ev de Oscos Eulalia Cabrales de Cabrales D Grandas Tebongo Ye r m e s Lago Enol Murias Pola de Laviana Sebarga Lago Ercina de Salime a Mieres El Entrego Sames Poncebos Berducedo e c La Hermida r Caranga La Vega R í S a Villabre o e Naranjo de Bulnes N Rioseco l P Villarpedre Corias la I 2519 Sotres Aguamestas Bárzana C Caín A A Fonsagrada Cangas Campo de Caso O S P Emb.de D R O Salime Fuentes de La Regla de Narcea Pola Cabañaquinta 625 E E U Teverga N o las Montañas a Beleño Posada de í de Lena La Felguerina ló R 1890 Aller n Potes 1766 Valdeón Villanueva C Fuente Dé Las Mestas a PARQUE NATURAL Monasterio u A Ta r n a Oseja de P d C DE REDES Marentes Pola de a I Felechosa del Coto o l Campomanes í Villar de R Pto. de Sajambre Somiedo 1490 621 R R A Á B Tarna San Antolín Vidas L E T Ventanueva Vallado I L C A N Puerto de 1520 de Ibias C San Isidro O R D Tu i z a Puente de Cecos Centenales Pto. de los Fierros 1525 Leitariegos 1486 2417 Burón Pto. de 1379 Pto. de Rañadoiro Pto. de Puebla ío Ib Somiedo Peña Ubiña Pajares HighwayAutopista R ias 1181 2189 de Lillo VALGRANDE-PAJARES Freeway Cerredo 630 Embalse Autovía Braña Caballo de Riaño National road Emb. Riaño Carretera nacional Luiña Degaña Piedrafita de Porma «A»Ctra. Road Red básica 1er orden Villablino Sil 1969 Sena «B»Ctra. Road Red básica 2º orden de Luna Becerreá R LocalCarretera Road local Miravalles í Emb. Barrios o RailwayFerrocarril CORUÑA 140 km CORUÑA ío de Luna Embalse A R Boñar de VelillaP Parador (State-run hotel) Shrine-MonasterySantuario-Monasterio N-VI CastleCastillo La Robla Guardo MonumentMonumento HistoricRuinas históricasruins Pedrafita La Magdalena Cistierna N CavesCuevas do Cebreiro B e NationalParque Nacional Park r n a l e s Nature Reserve Toreno s Parque Natural R E g ío a CampCamping site SkiEstación resort de esquí GolfCampo course de golf Villafranca Bembibre A-66 Escala 1 : 800.000 P del Bierzo SpaBalneario Ó N-VI r ío Marina b R Puerto deportivo 0 10 20 30 Km i g P o Gradefes LighthouseFaro CARTOGRAFÍA: GCAR, S.L. Cardenal Silíceo, 35 Torre LEÓN AirportAeropuerto Tel. 91 416 73 41 - 28002 MADRID - AÑO 2000 Ponferrada del Bierzo LEÓN 36 km LUGO 236 km BURGOS 201 km INTRODUCTION The Principality of Asturias is a verdant, unending feast of scenery. In this region of northern Spain, sea and mountainside meet in a world of abrupt contours, exuberant nature, rolling forests, and scores of small towns and villages dotted about a terrain that is a joy to the senses. Seventy-eight municipalities make up a region that covers over 10,500 square Pindal Cave, rock painting kilometres (some 4,000 sq. miles), with a 375-kilometre strip of coastline. To the south lies the Province of León, to the West that History: of Lugo, and to the East, Cantabria. Heirs of the Palaeolithic The Picos de Europa massif has acted as an nigh impassable To trace Asturias’ historical origins barrier. To the north, the Atlantic one has to travel far back in time. swell of the Bay of Biscay pummels To the Palaeolithic, the age the coastal cliffs, forming hundreds of the great cave painters. The of beaches...secluded, capriciously caves of Candamo, El Buxu, El carved beaches, small coves of Pindal or Tito Bustillo, among white sand and weathered rock. others, stand in mute testimony Two very different faces of to this culture. When, many Asturias, and, there between the centuries later, the Roman Empire two, lies metropolitan Asturias: sought to colonise these lands, its Oviedo, the capital (population envoys came up against warrior 200,000), Gijón, the largest city tribes with a lifestyle not far (population 270,000), and Avilés, removed from that of their an industrial and fishing centre Palaeolithic forebears. They fished (population 90,000). In addition, and hunted much like their there are the two mining capitals: ancestors, they moved about in Langreo and Mieres. clans, clothed themselves in furs and skins, paid homage to the deities of Nature and rebelled against the very notion of foreign Ultimately, Asturias was rule or authority. These were the Romanised, though never entirely. Asturs. The Moorish invasion left few The Asturs were exponents of the scars on the Principality. Once so-called castro culture. These again, the Astur tribes halted the castros (fortified encampments) advance of an invading army with were both places of abode and the aid of a broken and difficult defence: circular stone dwellings, terrain. The legend is told of how, with straw roofs, surrounded by in the 8th century, a local stout walls. This castro culture has chieftain of noble blood, Pelayo left abundant examples in by name, defeated the Moorish forces at the Battle of Covadonga, on the site of which there now stands a shrine that has become a regional symbol. Indeed, it was this battle that heralded the beginning of the Reconquest and the birth of the Asturian monarchy. Many years have since elapsed, but the echoes of those bygone days haunt the land: the famine of medieval times, the uprising of the Asturian people during the Peninsula War, the massive exodus of the emigration years, the industrialisation that took place toward the close of the last Cave of Tito Bustillo, rock painting. century... A past that is kept alive Ribadesella through traditions, folklore and customs: ancestral Asturias, the best being the dances, such as the Corri-corri of Coaña castro, in the West of the the Cabrales district or El Pericote region. When, after three from Llanes; dishes that hail from hard-fought wars, the Romans another age, such as the local were finally able to set about casseroles (potes), the famed their cultural and economic fabada (stew of haricot beans, colonisation of the Asturs, they pork and sausage), or the blue- looked to this people’s land for its veined Cabrales cheese, left to precious metals, and to its mature in natural mountainside menfolk for skilled warriors to caves; a past that is to be seen in man the Imperial legions. the local architecture, in the 2 mansions built by the “indianos” (expatriate Asturians who, having left to seek fame and fortune in America, returned with their newfound wealth), and in the hórreos (narrow, stone, house-like gran-aries supported on squat piles) standing alongside many a country homestead, which together constitute Asturias’ most important architectural heritage. A past that has also bequeathed a local tongue, known as bable. This however is neither standardised nor in generalised use, and is heard mostly in country districts. Asturias has a population of 1,100,000, a mild climate and plentiful rainfall. Temperatures average around 12°C in winter (except in mountain areas) and 16°C-18°C in summer. Oviedo Cathedral Faculty of Philosophy and letters, statue of Father Feijoo. Oviedo 3 OVIEDO In the shadow of its Cathedral Oviedo is a city that is ideal for exploring on foot. A good part of it historic Old Quarter is a pedestrian precinct. The starting point for the tour is the Cathedral Square (Plaza) (1), laid out beneath the imposing steeple of its Gothic church.