Villaviciosa

Villaviciosa is a town of 14,000 people (2018) in the autonomous community of Asturias, Spain. Villaviciosa is important for the production of cider. The town also produces milk and relies on tourism, with natural landscapes and beaches.

City Hall

Carlos I square

Santa Eulalia de la Lloraza

There are vestiges of Paleolithic, Neolithic, Castreño and Roman sites.

• 🌍 Iglesia de Santo Tomás (Coro). A rural Romanesque church from the second half of the 13th century. (updated Sep 2020)
• 🌍 Church of Santa Eulalia de la Lloraza. A Romanesque-style Roman Catholic church from the 13th century. (updated Sep 2020)
• 🌍 Holy Week Museum (Museo de la Semana Santa), Plaza San Francisco. Since 1668, the Villaviciosa village celebrates the Passion of Christ with a devotional procession. This museum, about this tradition, was inaugurated on 2018 in the former cloisters of the old de San Juan de Capistrano convent. There are beautiful carvings, and it's full of history from the 17th century. (updated Sep 2020)

Villaviciosa has 23 km of coastline and 7 beaches: from east to west, Misiegu, Rodiles, El Puntal, Tazones, Merón, Spain and La Ñora. Many of these cliffs have footprints left by the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

The Apple Festival celebrates the region's apples and ciders.

• 🌍 Mercado Plaza De Abastos, Calle Maliayo 1. Open all week. Groceries, butcher and fishmonger stalls, wholefoods shops. (updated Sep 2020)

Fish and shellfish are the basis of a gastronomic culture, but beef and wild boar (arcea) raised in the nearby valleys.

For dessert, try the Villaviciosa cake, the apple jam and, the rice pudding.

Cider (sidra) is the region's preferred drink.

• 🌍 Hotel Casa Espana, Pza. Carlos I, ☏ +34 985892030. 12-room hotel that was a mansion de Indianos. From €45. (updated Sep 2020)