Gijon Tourist Attractions
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The busy port and industrial town of Gijón is the largest city in Asturias, with one of the best harbors on the north coast of Spain.
Old Town
The original core of Gijón is the old fishing quarter of Cimadevilla with its steep and irregular streets, between the old fishing harbor on the west and the Playa de San Lorenzo on the east. Above the houses rises Monte Santa Catalina, from which there are extensive views, westward to Cabo de Peñas, eastward to Cabo de San Lorenzo and southeastward to the Picos de Europa.
Plaza Mayor
The Plaza Mayor, lined with cafes and bars, lies between the old town and the newer districts of Gijón. On its east side is the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall).
Roman Baths
North of the Town Hall, in Plaza Jovellanos, stands the Palacio de los Valdés (1590), in the cellars of which were found remains of Roman baths dating from the first century A.D.
Museo Casa Natal Jovellanos
On the opposite side of Plaza Jovellanos in Gijón is the house in which Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos was born, an imposing building with a long wrought-iron balcony, in which Jovellanos founded the Instituto Jovellanos in 1794. It is now the Museo Casa Natal Jovellanos, with pictures by contemporary Asturian painters and material illustrating Gijón's industrial history.
Palacio de Revillagigedo
To the west of the Plaza Mayor, in Plaza del Marqués, is the Palacio de Revillagigedo, with two tall towers (15th-16th century).
New Town
Plaza del 6 de Agosto
From Plaza del Marqués Gijón's busy main street, the Corrida, runs south to the Plaza del 6 de Agosto, the central feature of the new town. In the center of the square is a monument to Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos. To the northeast is the present-day Instituto Jovellanos, originally founded as a school for the practical study of the natural sciences, now the Provincial College of Industry and Nautical Science.
Playa de San Lorenzo
On the east side of the Santa Catalina promontory is the Playa de San Lorenzo, a beach lined with high rise hotels and apartment blocks which extends southeast for more than a kilometer (0.75mi) to the Río Piles.
Asturian Village
On the far side of the Río Piles, opposite the Parque Isabel la Católica, lies the Pueblo de Asturias, an open-air ethnographic museum in which visitors can see typical Asturian buildings, including hórreos (maize stores), farmhouses and a factory producing gaitas (Asturian bagpipes).
Universidad Laboral
On a hill on the southeastern outskirts of Gijón (5km/3mi from the town center on the Santander road) is the extensive campus of the Universidad Laboral (Workers' University), founded in 1955. It is centerd on a building with a 120m/395ft high tower which has more of the appearance of a Baroque church than of a university. There are some 4,000 students studying science, technology and agriculture.
Surroundings
Green Coast
The Green Coast is nestled between the greenery of the mountains on one side and the sea on the other. The stretch is a scenic route that offers some of the finest coastal scenery in Spain.
