HISTORY

THE PREHISTORY

The oldest remains of human presence in Asturias are around 49,000 years old and correspond to the Neanderthal and were found in the Cave of Sidrón, in Piloña.

With Homo Sapiens a new form of communication emerged: petroglyphs. The cave of Tito Bustillo, in Ribadesella, is one of the greatest world exponents of this art of the Upper Paleolithic.

There are another four Paleolithic caves open to the public, out of the 39 discovered in Asturias.

They are the caves of El Pindal, El Buxu, San Román de Candamo and La Loja.

During the Neolithic agriculture and cattle breeding appeared. There are numerous dolmens and megaliths of this period, used for funeral practices. Among the thousand burials of this type that are conserved in Asturias, the dolmen of Santa Cruz, in Cangas de Onís, and the tumular set of Monte Areo, in the council of Carreño, are especially interesting.

The Iron age is connected  in Asturias to the castros culture: fortified settlements associated to Celtic culture, formed by round stone huts.

The way of life of the men and women who occupied the castros, which are known as astures, was based on the cattle exploitation, along with quite limited agriculture activities. More than 300 castros were found  in the region, some from before the 8th century BC: Coaña, Chao San Martín, Sanchuis, Noega, …

ROMANIZATION

The Romans had to fight for long to conquer the Cantabrians and Asturians who, protected by the mountains, resisted for 10 years (29-19 BC). At that time the rest of the peninsula was already under Roman control.

Evidence of the roman period are the Roman Baths and Villa de Veranes in Gijón, and Villa de Valduno in Las Regueras.

Roman control over Hispania collapsed during the fifth century when the Visigoths, a Germanic tribe, took control of the peninsula. In 711, the dynastic disputes between the Visigoths nobility allowed a Muslim intervention that ended up becoming an invasion.

THE KINGDOM OF ASTURIAS

With the Muslim invasion (711), Asturias became the refuge of the Visigoths who had fled the Islamic advance and the first focus of resistance, where the Reconquest began. This marked the birth of the Kingdom of Asturias, with the victory of king Pelayo over the moors in the battle of Covadonga in 722.

This small Christian kingdom began to spread throughout the Cantabrian region and later reached till today’s north of Portugal and the north riverbank of the river Duero (today’s Castilla and Leon).

Typical from this period is the Pre-Romanesque art, a unique architecture style that combines elements from the Visigoths, the Mozarabic and local tradition. The Churches of Santa Maria del Naranco, San Miguel de Lillo, San Salvador de Valdediós and Santa Cristina de Lena, all listed as UNESCO World Heritage, are some of the finest examples of Asturian Pre-Romanesque architecture. 

The Asturian monarchy lasted until 910, when the center of power of the Christian kingdom of the north moved towards Castilla and Leon.

The loss of influence provoked several secessionist movements and continuous rebellions of the Asturian counts during the Middle Ages, until 1388 when the Principality of Asturias was instituted by King Juan I of Castilla, granting to its first-born the title of Prince of Asturias that, since then, will be granted to the heirs of the throne of Spain.

XV – XVIII CENTURY

From the 15th to 18th century, Asturias had little to do with the events of imperial Spain and the first phases of the colonization of America. Its most remarkable link with the monarchy of the Habsburgs is the landing of Charles V at Villaviciosa coast, in 1517, the first time the emperor set foot in Spain.

XIX – XXI CENTURY

The 19th century was marked by the emigration to America.It is estimated that between 1840 and 1940 around three hundred thousand persons, mainly young men,  left Asturias to America, especially to Cuba, Argentina and Mexico. 

Many of them, generally those who had made their fortune, returned in the beginning of the 20th century. These Indianos, as they are known, helped reactivating the economy and built elegant mansions, which today are part of the typical architecture of the region, easily recognizable for the palm trees in their gardens. 

Immigrants’ capital contributed to accelerate industrialization during the 20^th century, with steel and coal industry as strategic sectors. 

The entry of Spain into the European Community in 1986 together with industrial recessions caused a traumatic adjustment of the regional economy with reconversions in the agricultural, mining, milk, iron and steel, fishing and shipyards sector.

The Asturian economy today is based predominantly on the tertiary sector, with an important growth of tourist activity.