1) Palacio de Camposagrado
N 43° 33.438 W 005° 55.325
It consists of two very different facades: the north, located on Calle de La Muralla. The south, in the Plaza de Camposagrado, is very attractive and architecturally elegant.
The north façade of the palace, parallel to the old wall, consists of two floors, the first consisting of a beautiful gallery of arches that constituted another element of vigilance towards what came from threatening by the sea (at that time pirates in search of loot ); the set refers to Renaissance architecture.
The second floor consists of balconies that correspond to the arches and lower hollows, lintelled, flanked by lateral shields that kill the edges of the corners. The southern part, attributed to the Menéndez Camina brothers, Avilés architects, presents a magnificent construction. It consists of two symmetrical side towers, both emblazoned, and a rectangular central body, where the monumental shield of the inhabitant (Bernaldo de Quirós, Marquis of Camposagrado) stands out. Taking the coat of arms as a reference, different columns can be seen in the central balconies that change style as one descends towards the ground floor. All this gives it the appearance of an altarpiece, which constitutes another extremely unique element of the palace. Equally noteworthy are the abundant decorative elements on this façade.
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2) Palacio de Maqua
N 43° 33.400 W 005° 55.417
The Maqua family built their residence, between the 19th and 20th centuries. following the tastes of the bourgeoisie of the time: building of modern construction, which incorporates historicist details. In this case the Gothic. The interior distribution revolves around an interior patio that is closed in galleries with a remarkable marquetry work on its upper floors. The latter with a curious and excellently worked floral decoration. On the outside, the eaves and beautiful viewpoints, with Gothic motifs, stand out. He was rehabilitated in 1983 and 1997.
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3) City town Hall
N 43° 33.339 W 005° 55.322
The town hall was built in the seventeenth century, following the plans of the architect Juan de Estrada, who is inspired by the recently built Town Hall of the capital of the Principality.
The building that houses the councils is made up of two floors. In his time, the lower one, under arcades, was rented to be used for commercial activities with an additional superimposed room, which centuries later was reproduced in the Plaza del Mercado (or de los Hnos. Orbón). The first floor housed, basically, two large meeting rooms and small spaces where the, then scarce, municipal activity took place.
In the 19th century a tower with a clock was added. Today the palace is dedicated entirely to administrative political tasks. Inside the central staircase, dominated by an attractive window and an excellent reception room, are noteworthy.
The subsequent construction of the noble house of García Pumarino and the palace of the Marqués de Ferrera, constituted the beginning of the first expansion of the medieval city that saw its growth strangled by the walled enclosure. This urban development is known as "the bourgeois expansion." And it gave rise to the Plaza de España and the birth of two streets: Rivero, the Camino Real to Oviedo and Galiana, in the direction of the agricultural area of ??Grado.
The City Council suffered serious damage, due to bombings, in the Civil War of 1936.
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4) Palacio de Ferrara
N 43° 33.315 W 005° 55.351
The Ferrera Palace (as it is known in the city) was built between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, at one end of the Plaza de España and ennobled the exit towards Grado through Galiana Street, also from the same period. Its location architecturally combined its union with the church of San Nicolás de Bari, when it was still a Franciscan convent.
The palace of the Marquis of Ferrera is a very sober building, in which the irregular plan of its tower stands out. Its main façade opens onto the Plaza de España, with lintelled balconies and the coat of arms of the Marquis. The main entrance, very wide, preserves a firm paving stone that facilitated the access of carriages to the mansion.
But what gives the building personality is its square tower, one of the most original of Asturian civil architecture. With four floors and crowned by a viewpoint with a railings balustrade, the tower faces the square and shoots the façade, at an angle, towards the church of San Nicolás de Bari. To the side arise the Caños de San Francisco.
The interior of the palace has rooms of great beauty, among which the library stands out, a considerable rectangular space that pours into a remarkable facade with galleries towards the interior of the building, specifically a magnificent "French garden" that complements the Ferrera's great public park.
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5) Palacio de Balsera
N 43° 33.293 W 005° 55.440
Built at the beginning of the 20th century, it is a palace with very well balanced volumes, laden ornamentation and crowned by a showy historicist tower.The City Council acquired it in the eighties to house the Conservatory, which provides professional-grade education: basic orchestral instruments. He excels in piano, guitar and percussion classes.
The Balsera palace is an example of construction with which the booming Avilesian bourgeoisie of the beginning of the century, highly cultured aesthetically, erected dazzling buildings in some cases and generally subject to construction models in the prevailing fashion, and in others to historical architectural styles. Today, the splendid Versailles gardens that complemented the mansion, and that occupied the entire right bank of Julia de la Riva Street, have perfectly disappeared.
The palace was built as the home of Victoriano Fernández Balsera, enriched above all thanks to the benefits that neutrality brought to Spain in the First World War. Fernández Balsera ran a colonial company and its imposing industrial buildings can still be seen at the beginning of the San Juan highway.
Very attractive building, it has been recently restored, we can appreciate the highlight of the palace's ornamentation. Inside, the elegant staircase, which opens in the shape of a vee towards the first floor, as well as the leaded glass vault stand out. The rooftops and the tower's viewpoint are a magnificent observatory over the beautiful and historic area where it is located.
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This tour maybe done in 7 minutes walking, because five monuments are in 550m long.