A borough and a commercial, cosmopolitan, dynamic city of medieval origin and long-standing maritime tradition... that's Avilés. The town and borough capital boasts an old quarter dotted with mansions, gardens, fountains, churches, arcaded houses, etc., all of which lend it a unique atmosphere. The size and proportions of its estuary, which passes right through the heart of the city, make Avilés the only city in Asturias with a major river flowing at the foot of the old town, one of the best preserved in all of northern Spain.
Land of discoverers such as Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the conqueror of Florida in the Americas, both the city and the borough have an artistic calling besides being open to innovation. Furthermore, contemporary Avilés also experienced a major industrial revolution in the form of the steel industry, which has given it the post-industrial "appearance" that inspired the genius of architecture, Oscar Niemeyer, to design the last of his major international projects, a cultural centre that bears his name and is a symbol of the urban and sociological renewal the city has undergone.
