Cangas de Onís ( Asturian: ''Cangues d'Onís'' "valleys of Onís"'' Canga'' (plural ''cangues'') is an Asturian word for "valley, canyon".) is a municipality in the eastern part of the province and autonomous community of

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensiv ...

in the northwest of Spain. The capital of the municipality is also Cangas de Onís. More than seventy square kilometres of the ''conceyu'' form part of the Parque nacional de los Picos de Europa.

History

Within the park is the village of

Covadonga Covadonga ( Asturian: ''Cuadonga'', from ''cova domnica'' "Cave of Our Lady"Juan Gil Fernández, José L. Moralejo, Juan Ignacio Ruiz de la Peña, ''Crónicas asturianas'', Universidad de Oviedo, 1985, p. 203.) is one of 11 parishes in Ca ...

, where the

battle of Covadonga The Battle of Covadonga took place in 718 or 722 between the army of Pelagius the Visigoth and the army of the Umayyad Caliphate. Fought near Covadonga in the Picos de Europa, either in 718 or 722, it resulted in a victory for the forces of Pel ...

(about 722), the first major victory by a Christian military force in

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

after the

Islamic conquest The spread of Islam spans about 1,400 years. Muslim conquests following Muhammad's death led to the creation of the caliphates, occupying a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces conquering vast territories ...

, marks the starting-point of the

Reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

. Cangas de Onís is the site of the first church constructed in post-conquest Iberia,

Santa Cruz de Cangas de Onís Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...

(737), built on an ancient dolmen. A parish named Cangas de Onís is attested for the 14th century. The stone bridge across the Sella River was built in the 14th or 15th century. Cangas de Onís was represented in the Junta General of the principality of Asturias in 1504. Covadonga began to be developed as a pilgrimage site in the 16th century, attracting commerce. The settlement of Cangas de Onís grew rapidly in the mid 19th century. A

meteorite fall A meteorite fall, also called an observed fall, is a meteorite collected after its fall from outer space was observed by people or automated devices. Any other meteorite is called a "find". There are more than 1,100 documented falls listed in ...

is recorded for the year 1866. Cangas de Onís/Cangues d'Onís was bombarded several times in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

. It served as the seat of the Regional Council in the "pre-autonomous regime" of 1978–1981 prior to the entering into force of the Statute of Autonomy of the Principality of Asturias on 31 January 1982.

Vegetation

Given its varied height it has many types of plants, including many mountain shrubs, heather; oak, have and ash trees, rounded by grassland and copes.

Economy

The main economic activities of this region are agriculture and cattle rearing along with rural tourism. The nearby Covadonga Sanctuary and its surrounding lakes are one of the main tourist destinations in Asturias.

Parishes

Cangas de Onís is divided in eleven parishes: *

Abamia Abamia is one of eleven parishes in Cangas de Onís, a municipality within the province and autonomous community of Asturias, in northern Spain. It is situated in the Picos de Europa The Picos de Europa ("Peaks of Europe", also the Picos) ar ...

* Cangas de Onís * Con *

* Grazanes * Labra * Margolles * La Riera * Triongo * Villanueva * Zardón The capital of the municipality is the parish of Cangas de Onís. It is in size with a population of 4,326
INE
2005). The postal code is 33550 and is divided in several villages: * Cañu * Cabielles * Cangues * Cardes * Celangu * Ḥelgueres * Llueves * Ñarciandi * Ñeda * Onao * Següencu * Torió * Tornín

Gallery

File:Cangas de Onís. Puente sobre el Sella 2.jpg, 13th century bridge over Rio Sella File:Estatua de Don Pelayo en Covadonga, Asturias.jpg, Statue of the King Pelayo File:Cangas de Onís 05.jpg, Cangas town hall File:EnolLake.jpg, Enol Lake at Covadonga File:Covadonga - Cueva santa y cascada.jpg, ''Holy Cave'' of Covadonga File:Monasterio de San Pedro de Villanueva - Iglesia02.jpg, Monastery of San Pedro de Villanueva (12th century) - Church File:Lateral iglesia santa cruz c onis.jpg, Church of Santa Cruz - Lateral side File:Capilla de Santo Medero (Isongo) - 04.jpg, Chapel of Santo Medero File:Cangas de Onís - Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción y Monumento a Don Pelayo 2.jpg, Cangas church

References

External links

Guía turística

www.cangasdeonis.com

Cangas de Onís

Casa Rural

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cangas De Onis Municipalities in Asturias Picos de Europa *