|
|
<-- Back
Gijon Holidays
Gijon, modern village with the historical taste of Asturias in the North of Spain |
Gijon, modern village with the historical taste of Asturias in the North of Spain
Tourist information about Gijon in Spain. Travel to Gijon and let Spain-Holiday.com guide and accommodate you |
The municipality of Gijon covers a surface of 181.7 square Kms and is located in the central area of the long Asturian coastline. Its coast, craggy and irregular, contrasts with the gentle landscape of the inner areas. The maximum height above sea level is 672 m.
Gijon occupies a privileged geographic position on the Asturian map, a few minutes from Oviedo and Aviles. These cities are linked by the "Y" motorway, the large artery of the Asturian metropolis. It takes half an hour to get to the airport or to the coal mining municipalities. The centre of Gijon has the shape of an amphitheatre, marked by the immense beach of San Lorenzo, the main beach in the council. Next to it, we find the recovered beaches of Poniente and El Arbeyal, and the traditional ones of El Rinconin, Peñarrubia, Serín, La Cagonera and La Ñora, on the border with Villaviciosa.
Beaches:
Gijón lives facing the sea, which is ever present in its geography and activities. Nature has given the borough the gift of numerous beaches all along its coast.
Essential leisure spots when good weather pays us a visit, these sandy beaches are not abandoned with the arrival of autumn, the ideal time to enjoy a stroll or go fishing on the shore of the Bay of Biscay, known locally as the Cantabrian Sea.
Parks and gardens
There exists a clear concern in Gijón with caring for and conserving its recreational zones, with creating ample spaces that are also welcoming at the same time, giving rise to an increase in the quality of life. We might say that we are talking about nature transplanted into the urban setting. Extensive areas of open spaces are to be found all over the town, with parks and gardens that cover a surface area of almost one and a half million square metres. Such busy plazas in the town centre as those of San Miguel, San Agustín, Europa, Begoña, and more peaceful gardened areas, veritable green lungs, such as the Isabel La Católica Park, the "English" Park, the Pericones, the Rinconín or the new Cape San Lorenzo Park, distribute these leisure spaces around the town and its surroundings, opening up a wide range of possibilities of enjoyment for young and old, the people of Gijón and its visitors. To top it all, we must not fail to highlight the Botanical Garden of Gijón, in the countryside setting of Cabueñes.
Active tourism
If you are one of those people who cannot stay still or wish to enjoy something different and daring on your holidays, Gijon has some proposals for you.
For sea lovers, the Estación Náutica Gijón Costa Verde offers the possibility of practising sailing, scuba diving, boat trips, sightings of sea birds, dolphins and other cetaceans.
Or enjoy yourself on land hiking, driving a quad, horse riding, following routes and in the air, paragliding, hot-air ballooning, etc.
And there is even more, because we propose that you install your base camp in Gijón and enjoy all the activities that Asturias has to offer: potholing, bungee jumping, rafting, hydrospeed, skiing, mountain biking and much more.
Monuments
The neighbourhood of Cimadevilla concentrates a good number of local monuments such as Revillagigedo Palace, the Collegiate Church of San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist) and the chapels of La Soledad (Solitude) and Los Remedios (The Remedies).
Next to this last building is to be found the Birthplace of Jovellanos, a typically Asturian mansion dating from the 15th century, currently the Museum of Gijón.
At the top of Cimadevilla, facing the Cantabrian Sea, we can see the monumental sculpture "Eulogy of the Horizon", raised there by the artist Eduardo Chillida in 1990.
In the urban expansion of Gijón, we find such notable buildings as that of the Instituto Jovellanos, nowadays home to multiple cultural activities, as well as numerous examples of Modernist architecture dating from the beginning of the 20th century and of Rationalist architecture that left outstanding works in Gijón.
Outside the town, the visitor must make a visit to small Romanesque churches like those of San Andrés de Ceares and San Juan de Fano, mansions like that of San Andrés de Cornellana (converted into a Youth Hostel) or the astonishing Modernist-style Bauer Palacio, in Somió.
|
|
See a map over Gijon
