City of Gijon, Spain: attractions, weather, reviews. Atlantic coast of Spain

Today Gijon enters the constellation largest cities on the Cantabrian coast. Beautiful bend coastline allows you to admire the unique picture created by rocky cliffs and huge boulders, between which there are comfortable bays with cozy beaches. The rugged, steep banks are the main attraction of the area in which Gijón is located.

The very geographical position of the city of Gijón contributes to the development of tourism. It is only half an hour drive along an amazing highway that separates it from Ranon Airport. The central part of Gijon looks like a huge amphitheater. A few steps from the center of Gijon is the amazing San Lorenzo beach with fine sand. For those who do not want to rest on central beach, offer their services the beaches of La Cagonera y La Nora, Serin, Penarrubia, El Rinconin, the restored El Arbeyal and Poniente, as well as small beaches hidden in the rocks.

However, the city offers more than just the opportunity to sunbathe. There is a beautiful bagpipe museum, an art center in the Revigliajedo Palace, Barjola (museum of modern art). An unforgettable experience the pedestrian shopping street Corrida will also be left. Copyright www.site

There is an interesting Railway Museum in the city; it was opened in one of the most beautiful historical buildings. It was built in 1874 and was previously a railway station; several old railway lines have survived next to it. The opening of the museum took place relatively recently, in 1998; the basis of its exposition is made up of 140 old wagons, locomotives and railroad trains. All in all, the museum has collected about a thousand exhibits, one way or another related to the history of the development of the railway.

With a variety of inhabitants underwater world guests of Gijón are introduced to the local aquarium, which was opened in 2006. The aquarium is a large educational center; in addition to the oceanarium itself, there are several training rooms and museums within its walls. The center managed to recreate 60 unique aquatic ecosystems; it acquaints visitors with the peculiarities of the inhabitants of various rivers and seas of the world. The center regularly hosts interesting educational events, which will be interesting not only for children, but also for adults.

The city has the only botanical garden in Northern Spain, it was founded in 2003. Today the garden covers an area of ​​about 16 hectares, it is accessible for visiting all year round... Thanks to the presence of special covered pavilions, visitors to the garden, even in winter, can admire the variety of rare plants and flowers, and also take part in various entertainment events. V botanical garden regularly hold concerts, thematic conferences and various master classes.

On the territory of the city, you can see several unique antique sights; here are the ruins of ancient Roman baths. The ancient complex has been amazingly preserved after more than 1,800 years.Today, visitors to the thermal baths can admire artful ancient mosaics, and also see the heating system developed by ancient engineers.

*** This story is a fragment of a larger story about a trip to northern Spain: "Spanish of the North - from Bilbao to Gijón: unusual Spain". It is clear that a passage taken out of the general context, by definition, loses a lot, so it is best to read the whole story in its entirety - if you wish, it is very easy to find it!

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I arrived in Gijón in the evening, when the setting sun gilded the buildings of the old city, built of yellow stone:

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The main symbol of Gijon is the famous Pelayo, the image of which can be found here even on garbage containers:

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Pelayo - Visigothic king, the first ruler Kingdoms of Asturias, and therefore, if we simplify the situation and do not get into the jungle (in this story I do not want to do this) of all centuries-old historical intricacies - the first king of Spain, since Asturias, having existed under this name for about two centuries, began to be called the Kingdom of Leon, which later entered in the composition of Castile, well, namely Castile, no matter what the Aragonese say, was the nucleus of the formation of modern Spain.

It is believed that it was from Pelayo that the Spanish reconquista "pushed off", which lasted almost 8 centuries. It was under his command in 718 (according to some sources - in 722) that the first victory over the Muslims who captured the Pyrenees a few years ago was won, which went down in history as Battle of Covadonga... From a military point of view, it did not decide anything, because it did not in any way affect the alignment of the opposing forces at that moment, but its psychological significance was difficult to overestimate: according to G. Morton "The victory was the beginning of the Reconquista and led to the birth of the first of the Christian kingdoms - the Kingdom of Asturias.". Like most of its kind, this event instantly became overgrown with symbols and legends. Over time, Covadonga became a place of worship and pilgrimage. In the cave where Pelayo is believed to have hid during the battle, there is now a small chapel depicting Our Lady of Covadonga, declared the patroness of Asturias .And the cross that Pelayo allegedly saw before the battle, called Cross of victory(Cruz de la Victoria), still adorns the coat of arms and flag of the modern Principality of Asturias:

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A lot of loud words have been written about this victory, but I, speaking about it, would like to refrain from excessive pathos. In the end, we must not forget that those who recaptured the Pyrenean lands only 200 years ago came here themselves as invaders ...

However, no matter how great and revered here (let me remind you that Gijon is the largest city in terms of population in Asturias, although its capital is Oviedo) Señor Pelayo, I am not sure that he belongs to the unconditional 1st place among local symbols. Because in Gijon he has another very strong competitor, or rather a rival, since in Spain this word refers to the feminine gender: this is La sidra, or, more simply, simply cider.

Cider - an apple low-alcohol (from 3 to 8 degrees) drink - has long been produced and drunk in many countries: France, England, Belgium, Ireland, Germany. I don't know how it is there, but in Asturias, and it is in Gijon (of those cities that I visited) that cider is a cult drink. To be honest, I thought that despite all its historicity and symbolism, the attitude of local residents towards cider is relatively calm: well, yes, it is, but there are no problems with it, yes, it can be found in every bar, yes, it is still sip. And perhaps (as I thought) cider has already become more of a tourist attraction than a part of the way of life here.

But no, no and no again! I could not even imagine the scale of local sidropit! In the evening, there was a huge crowd of people on the tables at each cafe and bar and EVERYONE was drinking cider! :) Of course, if you wanted to, you could probably find a couple of renegades and opportunists, bashfully huddled in a corner, sipping beer or wine, but in any case they were completely lost among the masses drinking a yellow drink from green bottles. Evening Gijón lived on cider and only cider - and no Pelayo could compete with him in popularity. It looked something like this:

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Gijón, by the way, turned out to be the only city (again, of those where I was) where you could taste cider simply by asking for a glass (in other places it was sold only in bottles). Which I did, paying 1 euro and eating free pintxos with choriso from a tray on the bar counter. My opinion about the cider turned out to be quite even: on the one hand, I cannot say that I did not like it - and later I ordered it several times for lunch. On the other hand, it is unlikely that I will dream about it, and if I never visit the "cider" regions again, I will not be particularly upset about this. By the way, approximately the same attitude towards him, apparently, exists in Cantabria: when in Castro Urdiales I asked the bartender why they didn’t offer cider, he indifferently shrugged his shoulders and said: “No, it’s just that everyone already knows that it is everywhere, and if anyone wants to drink something cheaper, he orders cider. "

The process of pouring cider from a bottle into a glass deserves a special talk (they are also special: large, wide, slightly conical. In Spain they are called culín - I don’t know how ubiquitous they are). A waiter or bartender raises one hand with a bottle high up, lowers the glass in the other hand as low as possible and begins the mystical process of “pouring”, which in Spanish corresponds to the verb escanciar, which in translation simply means “pouring wine”. It looks like this:

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With such popular popularity, the appearance of the "cider monument" on the Gijón embankment is not at all surprising. What is more surprising is that, judging by the pictures from Google cameras, it appeared only recently:

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Gijón in its historical part (frankly speaking, it is still difficult to call it an old city) is a very colorful and vibrant city - in the literal sense of these words, and a walk through it brought a lot of positive emotions.

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Main square, traditional for any Spanish city Plaza mayor in the traditional arcade style and on it, of course, the same ayuntamiento:

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The most recognizable building of Gijon, we can safely say - its symbol, is Revigliajedo palace(Palacio de Revillagigedo), built at the very beginning of the 18th century.

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The Revigliajedo Palace turned out to be one of the most beautiful and authentic buildings that I have ever seen in northern Spain!

15 years after the construction of the palace on the left, a small church was added to it, consecrated in honor of John the Baptist (San Juan Bautista), but it received the status of a colleague. Her square tower can be seen in previous photographs.

Another "brand" of Gijon, of course, significantly inferior in popularity to Pelayo and cider (or cider and Pelayo) is a personality Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos- Spanish writer and social and political figure of the artist's time Goya and Prime Minister Manuel Godoy, known as the "Prince of Peace". Those who read the book L. Feuchtwanger“Goya, or the Difficult Path of Cognition”, probably remember the twists and turns of the relationship between these characters. A street, a theater, and a faculty of the local university are named in his honor in Gijón; here is the Jovellanos Institute and, of course, the house-museum where he was born.

Next to the preserved (relatively, of course) Roman baths, there is a monument to the emperor Octavian August, during whose reign, after the conquest of Cantabria and Asturias (which went down in history under the name Cantabrian Wars) the entire Iberian Peninsula finally came under the rule of the Roman Empire. And after the administrative reform of Augustus, the "north" became part of the province of Tarracon Spain.

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And the church itself - here it is, you could see it more than once in previous photos:

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In general, the historical part of Gijon is very small, but somehow ... very charming, or something - I did not regret at all that I came here.

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Modern Gijon- It is mainly a city of the 19-20 centuries, in some places reminiscent of Bilbao. And, in my opinion, there is much less interesting here.

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Church of St. Joseph(San José):

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Neo-Gothic (early 20th century) St. Lawrence Church:

In the afternoon we returned to Gijón and had a little walk around the city organized. More precisely, along Cape Simadevilla and the western embankment of Gijon, because we already got to know the eastern embankment a little the day before. Although the excursion was optional, but about 2/3 of our group went on it ...

Calle Ventura Alvarez Sala

A minute walk from our hotel - main square cities with the mayor's office. Interestingly, it is located almost in the center of the isthmus of the cape. The two bays are separated by some 200 meters.

Plaza Mayor

The flag of Gijón is white with a red border on all 4 sides. In the center - the coat of arms of the city, which depicts the first Asturian king Pelayo with a sword and the Cross of Victory.

City Hall (Casa consistorial)

There is also a monument to the "Asturian Dmitry Donskoy" - Pelayo. Concurrently, it is also a fountain, and was installed in 1891.

Pelayo

The most famous native of Gijon is Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (1744-1811). He was a writer, lawyer, economist and public figure of the Enlightenment. He could have ended up in Russia in due time, but refused the post of ambassador to our country.

Plaza del Periodista Arturo Arias

An old building is visible in the background. This is the house where Jovellanos was born. It was built at the end of the 15th century. Since 1971 the museum has been located here.

Plaza de Jovellanos

The chapel of Los Remedios is attached to the building. Here Jovellanos was buried.

Chapel of Los Remedios (Capilla Los Remedios)

The city's main theater also bears the name of the famous Gijontsi. Although originally (1899) it was called the Dindurra Theater. The building was damaged during the Civil War, and was restored by 1942. At the same time, the renaming took place.

Teatro Jovellanos

2011 is the year of the 200th anniversary of the death of Jovellanos, so there are many posters in the city depicting the great Spanish figure.

Instituto Plaza (Plaza del Instituto)

The most famous portrait of Jovellanos is by Francisco Goya. This painting is in the Prado Museum. In Gijon, you can see a reproduction of the painting on several buildings. For example, at the Revigliajedo palace.

Revilyahihedo Palace was built in 1704-21. for the Marquis San Esteban del Mar, and resembles a fortress. Indeed, the basis is based on the already existing medieval tower(left), and the right part was completed symmetrically.

Palacio de Revillagigedo

Another famous native of Gijón is Duke Evaristo Fernandez de San Miguel (1785-1862). He was a prominent military and political figure in Spain in the 19th century. He gained his military glory during the war with the French, and then continued his political career.

Evaristo de San Miguel

From afar, a marble figure of Jesus is visible, which rises above the city at almost 50 meters. This is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The church was built in 1918-22. designed by the Catalan architect, student of Gaudí, Joan Rubio and Bellver.

Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Basilica del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus)

Another church of Gijon, the Church of St. Lawrence, was built in 1896-1901. in the neo-gothic style designed by the architect Luis Belido Gonzalez.

Church of St. Lawrence (Iglesia de San Lorenzo)

Not visible in the picture, but there is a clock on one side of the red tower. Clock tower was built on this site in 1572. Then there was a prison. And in 1911 it was completely destroyed, and then a new one was rebuilt. Now there is a museum of the history of Gijón.

Clock Tower (Torre del Reloj)

The city has a street named after the sculptor Sebastian Miranda. We saw his work in Oviedo.

Street of the Sculptor Sebastian Miranda (Calle del Escultor Sebastian Miranda)

At the tip of Cape Simadevilla is the hill of Santa Catalina.

Bay of Biscay (Golfo de Vizcaya)

In 1989, the work "Praise to the Horizon" by the Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida (1924-2002) was installed here. The composition has become a symbol of Gijon.

"Praise the Horizon" (Elogio del horizonte)

The structure has a very unusual acoustic property. When you stand in the center - complete silence, and take a step to the side - you hear the intensified sound of the sea.

"Praise the horizon "(Elogio del horizonte)

Here you can also find a memorial stone to the entire Atlantic coast of Europe - from the Scottish Highlands to Spanish Andalusia.

Atlantic Europe (Arco Atlantico)

A cozy residential area is located on a green lawn.

It is especially good for young Gijonians to live here. For small children - a ship for fun ...

Hill of Santa Catalina (Cerro de Santa Catalina)

And for the older ones, there is a basketball and mini-football court, as well as an arena for extreme sports.

Hill of Santa Catalina (Cerro de Santa Catalina)

To the left of the cape is the port for boats and yachts, the yellow stripe in the distance is the Poniente beach, and even further behind it is the cargo port.

Hill of Santa Catalina (Cerro de Santa Catalina)

For some reason, this steel composition reminds me of some kind of hieroglyph in the monumental spirit of the DPRK. But in fact, the author of the work is Joaquin Vaquero Turkios (1933-2010). And it is called "North-East". I would assume that this is a monument in memory of the "Nord-Ost" terrorist attack (after all, there is a monument to Beslan in Italy), but the events on Dubrovka happened in 2002, and this composition was installed in 1994. Most likely, the monument is dedicated northeast wind, which is typical for Gijón.

"North-East "(Nordeste)

Well, everything is clear. Anchor is the symbol of all ports. The port of Gijona is the 6th largest port in Spain in terms of cargo volume.

Anchors

By the way, there is our Novorossiysk among the twin cities of Gijon.

Port

The first reliable mention of Gijon dates back to the times when Asturias was under the rule of the Romans. Then he was known as Gigia.

Port

After the death of the Western Roman Empire, and from the moment of the conquest of Spain by the Visigoth tribes in the 5th century. Chikhiya disappeared from the pages of history for a while.

Asturias was under the rule of the Moors for a very short time (714-18), and Gijon was the residence of Munusa.

Port

After the expulsion of the Moors, Oviedo became the main city of Asturias, and Gijón was in its shadow.

Calle Muelle de Oriente

In 1270, Gijon received from King Alfonso X the right to be called a city, and its inherent privileges and liberties. This attracted new settlers, the city began to grow and develop rapidly.

Calle Muelle de Oriente

Due to its location, Gijón has become a strategically important fortress. In this regard, the city often found itself in the epicenter of the struggle for power, which was a common occurrence in the Middle Ages.

A gun

Thanks to the discovery of the New World, American wealth flowed into the country, and Gijón, like many other port cities, received a new round of development.

But the real heyday of Gijon came from the 30s. XIX century, when the period of the industrial revolution began in Europe. In this regard, the mining of coal and iron ore was formed in Asturias - the two main types of raw materials required for steam technology. By the end of the XIX century. Gijón has become one of the largest ports in northern Spain.

The city has gone through a period of rapid industrialization and urbanization, increasing significantly in size. And now we can say with confidence that Gijon is the economic capital of Asturias.

Plaza de Carmen

In 2011, McDonald's celebrated its 30th anniversary in Spain.

"McDonalds "(McDonalds)

The telephone number for the Gijon police is 092.

Police

Gambling activity has been legalized in Spain. Some of our travel agencies even arrange special tours for Russian gambling enthusiasts. But this applies mainly to Barcelona. Almost all Catalan casinos have Russian-speaking staff. The Russians did not get to Asturias. Bye.

Casino de Asturias

The sporting pride of Gijon is the Sporting football team. Even in the dining room of our hotel there were two posters with the club's coat of arms. Gijón is one of the 9 Spanish teams that have never dropped below the 2nd division. The main successes of “Sporting” were at the turn of the 70s and 80s: second place in the championship (1979) and two finals of the Spanish Cup (1981, 1982).
In April 2011 Sporting beat Real Madrid in Madrid and interrupted Jose Mourinho's incredible 150 home streak (the Portuguese-led teams have not lost at home for 6 years!).
Sporting has red and white mattress colors.

Begona Alley (Paseo de Begona)

El Molinon Stadium is located in the east of the city. This is the oldest stadium in Spain (1908). It got its name from the word "mill", because a large mill stood next to it.

Calle de Cabrales

In Gijon you can buy some clothes ...

Or a perfume.

Plaza de Italia

All street signs are in Spanish only. Although the Asturian language exists, it does not have the status of an official one.

Calle de Covadonga

The climate in Gijón is temperate - the Atlantic makes itself felt. Heat is rare here.

Corrida street (Calle de Corrida)

The maximum temperature in Gijon (and in general in Asturias) was recorded in the summer of 1998 = +36.4.

Instituto Street (Calle de Instituto)

That was the end of our stay in Asturias, and the next morning we set off for Galicia ...

With today's photo report, we open a large cycle of stories about travels in the Spanish province of Asturias. We got to this beautiful green land at the invitation of the travel company PrivetSpain, which organizes individual rest and travel in the north of Spain for tourists from Russia.

To meet our first sunrise in Asturias, we went with the PrivetSpain staff to a beach near Gijón. Despite the beginning of autumn, the early hour and the official day off in honor of Asturias Day, this beach was thoroughly cleaned and the wipers on the tractors were removed.

And local fishermen, meanwhile, were already engaged in their craft, catching seafood, for which the whole north of Spain and, in particular, Asturias are so famous.

The beach had a wonderful view of everything Mountain peaks Picos de Europa, including the Fito peak, famous for the international motor racing on its mountain streamers.

This cozy beach located in the beautiful fishing village of Lluanco, 10 km from Gijón.

Russian tourists practically do not know that Asturias is famous all over the world for its wide sandy beaches. Beaches with blue flag(the highest insignia) in Asturias, there are more than a dozen.

But apart from the sandy shores, Asturias is also famous for its waves - ideal for surfing.

At this early hour, we met about a dozen surfers on the beach trying to ride the wave.

After a short morning walk along the coast, we returned back to Gijón, where we were already greeted by the bright sun.

All guests arriving for the first time in Gijón are sure to be shown its magnificent promenade and the beach of San Lorenzo (Playa de San Lorenzo), from where in the morning hours a wonderful view of the old city opens.

The weather in Asturias can change several times during the day, especially in autumn. Our first morning in Gijón was sunny and warm. And of course they enjoy good weather locals... Someone is swimming ...

... someone jogging or just walking along the beach.

In addition to the historic part - the old town and the waterfront - Gijón also has modern attractions.
The new symbol of Gijón is the giant letters installed on the embankment in 2011. There are always a lot of tourists in this central place, and it is very difficult to photograph the letters without people passing in front of them :)

Another of Gijón's brand new iconic landmarks is this green Christmas tree ...

… Composed of 3200 glass empty bottles of the famous Asturian cider. The installation was erected with an idea of ​​\ u200b \ u200bthe care of the environment, and there is a large glass receptacle nearby.

It should be noted that apart from the promenade and the old town in Gijon there is practically nothing to see and take pictures, with a few exceptions. So, after visiting the embankment, we went to see Laboral, the largest building in Spain (270,000 m²), which was built during Franco's time in 1946-56.

The size of the complex is impressive. Despite the fact that this building currently houses a university, a theater and many government organizations, the area still looks deserted.
The main tourist attraction here is the Laboral Tower. It is the tallest building in Asturias. You can get to the very top of the tower by a modern elevator for 1.6 euros, which we did not fail to take advantage of.

Co observation deck, which height is 117 meters, offers a panoramic view of the landscape of the green city underfoot, the nearby buildings and the whole of Gijón.

Near Laboral is, in a sense, the "Silicon Valley" of Asturias. Here are the offices of all major high-tech companies in the region, and in total it employs about 13,000 people.

This is how Gijon was revealed to us from a height of 117 meters.

It must be admitted that we were little acquainted with Asturias before this trip. Typical tourist usually knows only about the Picos de Europa National Park, Covadonga Monastery, hoppy cider and the famous cabrales cheese. So when we saw our weekly itinerary program provided by our friends at PrivetSpain, we couldn't believe our eyes! It turns out that in this region there are many interesting, amazing and amazing things.

From Gijón we were taken to look at one of these highlights, about which little is written in the usual tourist guidebooks.

Bufones are karst caves in the form of chimneys or deep wells up to a hundred (!) Meters deep, which are located on rocky coasts near the sea.

The puffs extend right down to the water, and during strong tides one can observe giant fountains spilling up to 40 meters in height.

Unfortunately, during our arrival there was an ebb tide, and we could only hear how these natural chimneys breathe ominously, which in itself causes delight and awe.

And this is how the craftsmen in Asturias fish from a height of 50-70 meters :)

After buffets we drove to another hidden gem of Asturias.

Beach with a funny almost Finnish name Gulpiyuri (Playa Gulpiyuri). This unique beach is located in the lowlands between the towns of Ribadesella and Llanes.
Despite its small size and total isolation, it is a real sea beach with salt water and sand, located right in the middle of the farm fields. Sea water enters through a system of caves and underground tunnels.

On little Gulpiyuri, everything is like at the sea: there are ebb and flow of tides, and local romantics come to sunbathe on the clean sandy coast.

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Gijón (Spanish Gijón, Asturleon. Xixón [ʃiˈʃon]) - coastal industrial city and a municipality in Asturias, Spain. Port, one of the largest in the north of Spain. The population of Gijón is about 280,000 inhabitants.

History

People have settled in the Gijón region since ancient times. Early medieval texts mention a city called "Gigia". It was an important provincial Roman city. The name was originally applied to a small peninsula, nowadays (Cimadevilla), literally "upper village", between two beaches, one of which today has a recreational port. The main port, one of the largest in northern Spain, is called (El Musel).

Geography

The city is located in the center of the Asturian coast, from sea level to an altitude of 513 m (Picu San Martin) and 672 m (Peña de los Cuatro Jueces), bordered in the west with Carreño, in the east with Villaviciosa, and in the south with Siero and Llanera.

Part of Gijón lies on the Cimadevilla Peninsula, which separates San Lorenzo Beach and the surrounding neighborhoods to the east from the beaches of Poniente and Arbeyal, the docks and the port to the west. There are other large Asturian cities nearby - Oviedo and Aviles.

sights

• Bagpipe Museum (The Museo de la Gaita)
• Corrida shopping pedestrian street
• Revillagigedo Palace - Center for International Art.
• Museum of Jovellanos (de Jovellanos) - Asturian humanist and politician
• Barjola Museum of Contemporary Art