Gijón Travel Guide: Chillida's Elogio del Horizonte & San Lorenzo Beach

Gijón

Gijón pairs a full-size city beach with a fishing-village old quarter, Roman ruins under glass at the water's edge, and some of northern Spain's most serious cider culture.

San Lorenzo Beach is the reason Gijón feels more like a resort than an industrial port, even though it's both: the sand runs almost the full length of downtown, backed by a seafront promenade of Belle Époque townhouses and apartment blocks rather than hotels. At its eastern end, the Termas Romanas de Campo Valdés — a set of 1st-century Roman bathhouse ruins, excavated in 1903 and now preserved beneath a glass pavilion — sit just steps from the sand, a reminder that Gijón (Roman Gigia) has been a port for close to two thousand years. From there, the fishing quarter of Cimadevilla climbs the headland in narrow, colorful lanes lined with sidrerías, its Iglesia de San Pedro rebuilt in neo-Gothic stone after the original medieval church was destroyed in the Spanish Civil War.

‹›

Chillida's Elogio del Horizonte, its hollow concrete form framing the Cantabrian Sea

Cimadevilla's headland ends at Cerro de Santa Catalina, a hilltop park with nothing between it and the Cantabrian Sea except Eduardo Chillida's Elogio del Horizonte — a roughly 10-meter concrete sculpture installed in 1990, its hollow, curved form angled so that sea wind passing through its gaps is said to produce a low humming sound. The view from the same hill takes in the working port and the whole curve of San Lorenzo Beach at once, best at sunset when the light turns the sand copper. Back down in Cimadevilla afterward, order sidra natural at a sidrería and watch it get poured escanciado-style, held above the server's head and aimed into a glass at hip height to aerate the cider before it's drunk in one go.

Where to take photos

• Elogio del Horizonte — Chillida's 1990 concrete sculpture on Cerro de Santa Catalina, its hollow arches said to hum when sea wind passes through them.
• San Lorenzo Beach — Gijón's nearly 1.5-kilometer crescent city beach, backed by a Belle Époque and modern seafront promenade.
• Termas Romanas de Campo Valdés — 1st-century Roman bathhouse ruins preserved under glass at the edge of San Lorenzo Beach.
• Cimadevilla's sidrerías — the old fishing quarter's cider houses, where sidra natural is poured from shoulder height to aerate it before drinking.

When to go: June, when the Cantabrian coast is warm enough for the beach but before the August crowds and peak cider-festival season fill Cimadevilla.

Where to stay: Base yourself in Cimadevilla or along the San Lorenzo Beach promenade, within walking distance of the Roman baths, the cider houses, and the climb up to Cerro de Santa Catalina.

What to eat: Order fabada asturiana (a rich white bean stew with chorizo and morcilla) or cachopo (two breaded veal cutlets stuffed with ham and cheese) -- both Asturian staples, not just Gijón specialties.

Tip: Order sidra by the bottle, not the glass -- it's meant to be poured a splash at a time (a culin) and drunk immediately before it goes flat, not sipped slowly like wine.

More guides to explore

Spain

Spain: northern coasts, golden stone cities & Atlantic light

Madrid, Spain

Madrid Travel Guide: Plazas, Palaces & Late-Night Tapas

Cangas de Onís, Asturias, Spain

Cangas de Onís Travel Guide: An Asturian Stone Bridge Over Blue-Green Water