One-week route through the Industrial Heritage of Asturias

We begin our tour in the Cider Region. Although natural cider is the undisputed queen of beverages in Asturias, there is, however, another cider that is well known, loved and not to be missed at any celebration: the world-famous sparkling cider of El Gaitero.

The facilities where it is made have been declared a Historic Industrial Heritage Site and you can visit the factory, on the banks of the Villaviciosa estuary, a natural area that is a Partial Nature Reserve, of great scenic and ecological value, a paradise for birds and ornithologists.

The Asturias Railway Museum in Gijón/Xixón is less than 30 minutes' drive along the A-8 Cantabrian motorway. This museum occupies part of the century-old Gijón North Station and has a very important historical railway collection, which is exhibited in another newly built area.

Inaugurated in 1998, it is an essential visit to understand the history of the Asturian railway, the real backbone of Asturian industrial development in the 19th and 20th centuries. Free admission.

A day to discover a part of the famous Cuencas Mineras through two of the most important industrial activities in Asturias' recent past: mining and iron and steel.

In La Felguera awaits the MUSI, the unique Iron and Steel Museum of Asturias, located inside an imposing multi-coloured cooling tower of the former Duro Felguera steelworks, which was a national reference for decades. Its different rooms tell a very relevant story for understanding Asturias, that of the industrialisation process of the Cuencas Mineras.

Ten minutes by car separate the MUSI from the MUMI. The Museum of Mining and Industry of Asturias, in L'Entregu/El Entrego, pays tribute to mining and its memory. The MUMI offers a pedagogical historical tour of mining, old technologies, explosives and rescue brigades, among others. The icing on the cake is an immersive activity: enter the cage to descend into the MUMI 's image mine and learn about the most important aspects of mining and coal extraction through recreations.

The Senda del Oso is an ideal place to enjoy outdoor activities in the Principality because, industrial heritage aside, it is an authentic natural spectacle. It runs through the four councils of the Bear Valley (Proaza, Quirós, Santo Adriano and Teverga) following the route of the old mining railway. A route of extreme beauty, in the shape of a "Y", which runs through forests, gorges, an enclosure with bears in semi-freedom and tunnels, which is a treat for the senses and leaves no one indifferent. You can enjoy the Senda del Oso by bike or on foot, and you can do the whole trail or just part of it.

Just 30 kilometres away, continuing through bear country and in the heart of the Somiedo Nature Reserve, is the Malva Hydroelectric Power Station, located in an idyllic spot. This work of engineering is a magnificent example of early 20th century industrial architecture.

Harmoniously integrated with its surroundings, it is still active, producing clean energy in a building in a perfect state of conservation, of elaborate construction and undeniable beauty. It is an example of technology coexisting respectfully with the environment. Visits are available during certain months of the year.

We return to the Cuencas Mineras to get to know the council of Mieres and enjoy part of the abundant industrial heritage of Asturias.

We start the day in the mining village of Bustiello, declared an Asset of Cultural Interest, which occupies a plain next to the river Aller. This village is the result of a project developed by the Sociedad Hullera Española over several decades, between the 19th and 20th centuries, in a context of intense migratory movements towards industrial areas. Although the visit to the settlement is free, to fully decipher this jewel of Asturian industrial heritage, it is advisable to go to the interpretation centre and join a guided tour.

From Bustiello we head for one of the great Asturian mining shafts, the Santa Bárbara shaft, just 10 minutes by car from the town of Mieres del Camín. This underground coal mine in La Rebaldana, the first in the Caudal basin, began to be deepened in 1913 and was active for more than 80 years. The complex is made up of two derricks and several buildings, including the old engine room which houses the Pozu Santa Bárbara Cultural Centre, where you can enjoy cultural activities and contemporary artistic experiences.

We travel to the council of San Martín del Rey Aurelio, in the Nalón River Valley, to enjoy a unique sensory experience in the bowels of the earth at Pozo Sotón, where you can experience the reality of the mine and assimilate the hardness of the work down there.

The Pozo Sotón is an impressive immersion in which you descend to a depth of 600 metres, in a real mine, accompanied by real miners. You will explore the galleries and feel the intriguing underground atmosphere full of heat and humidity for several hours. An unforgettable experience where you can even drill.

Outside the Pozo Sotón you will also find the HUNOSA Mining Experience and Memory Centre, as well as an emotional tribute to those who died in the mine.

Just a 30-minute drive away, the Fuso Greenway is an excellent option to digest the excitement of the mine and see the surroundings of Oviedo at the same time.

We head for Ciañu, in the council of Langreo, to visit the Samuño Valley Mining Ecomuseum, a museum space made up of two main elements.

The first is at the El Cadavíu station, where the visitors' reception is located, the starting point of the mining train that runs along the old Samuño Valley railway trench, and ends its journey 32 metres down, in a mining gallery of the San Luis Well.

The Pozo San Luis, declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in 2013, is in an excellent state of conservation and is the main ingredient of the Ecomuseum. Around its photogenic steel derrick are distributed the rest of the buildings that served the mine, which have been restored and now house different areas that can be visited. Presiding over the complex is the superb building of the Casa de Máquinas, with modernist touches, one of the most illustrious examples of Asturian industrial heritage. This is one of the recommended places in Langreo. You can complete your day by adding other recommended visits in the Nalón Valley.

We end this tour of Asturias' industrial heritage on the coast, to reach the cove and the unique Arnao mine in Castrillón, a window onto the primitive origins of coal mining. It is the first documented coal mine, as early as 1591.

The Arnao shaft is the first vertical shaft of coal mining in Asturias, which was deepened in 1833 and ceased production in 1915. Its castle has been declared an Asset of Cultural Interest. The galleries of the shaft were excavated under the sea, which is why the Arnao shaft has the honour of being the only underwater mine in Europe.

It is possible to visit the interpretation centre on your own or on guided tours. Numerous audiovisual resources, images and panels retrace the history of the complex, starting with the first attempts in the 16th century.

It is also possible to go down into the well and join the guided tours to visit the centuries-old galleries with the aura of a catacomb, where you will understand its intimate relationship with the sea, that omnipresent and disquieting presence.