Avilés

Avilés is a city and municipality in Asturias, situated at the head of the Avilés ría on the Bay of Biscay. Historically the most important port of the Asturian kingdom in the medieval period, the city retains one of the best-preserved Romanesque and medieval arcaded streetscapes in northern Spain in its casco histórico, centred on the Calle Galiana and the church of San Nicolás de Bari.

In the twentieth century Avilés became a major steel and industrial centre following the establishment of ENSIDESA, one of the largest steel works in Spain. The subsequent industrial decline prompted major urban regeneration, most visibly in the Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre, designed by the Brazilian architect and completed in 2011, whose white curves and domed forms occupy the former industrial waterfront beside the ría.

For pilgrims on the Camino del Norte, Avilés provides full services and the striking juxtaposition of medieval arcades and Niemeyer’s late modernist architecture in a compact walkable setting.