La Felguera is a parish of Langreo, and the most important district in the municipality of Langreo (

Principality 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 northern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, with 21.000 inhabitants. It is located 18 minutes by car to

Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located a ...

, the capital of Asturias. La Felguera is close to the

Nalón River Nalón can refer to: * Nalón (Asturian comarca), in northern Spain * Nalón (river), a river in the comarca * Muros de Nalón Muros de Nalón ( Asturian: ''Muros'') is a small coastal municipality in the Spanish province of Asturias, with an a ...

History

In the 19th and first half of the 20th century, La Felguera was one of the most important iron and steelworks centers in Spain, located inside the mining region of Asturias. In 1858, Pedro Duro founded the Felguera Factory (currently '' DF Group'') one of the most influential

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

and

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

-work enterprises in Spain. The town was the first production site in Spain for: sheet

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...

for shipbuilding (1887),

refractory In materials science, a refractory material or refractory is a material that is resistant to decomposition by heat, pressure, or chemical attack, and retains strength and form at high temperatures. Refractories are polycrystalline, polyphase, ...

bricks (1896),

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

s (1868), chemical products derived from

ethylene Ethylene (IUPAC name: ethene) is a hydrocarbon which has the formula or . It is a colourless, flammable gas with a faint "sweet and musky" odour when pure. It is the simplest alkene (a hydrocarbon with carbon-carbon double bonds). Ethylene ...

(1957) and synthetic ammonia (1925). It also had the largest

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheri ...

in Spain in 1943. It was also an important point at workers' struggle. In addition La Felguera was declared the greatest cultural point of Europe by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

in 1961. Before the 19th century, the parish was a group of small villages dedicated to livestock and agriculture. La Felguera has numerous annual celebrations (like Saint Peter's Fiestas or Day of the

Cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...

) and an art gallery, Pinacoteca Eduardo Úrculo. The International Tales Competition is one of the most important in the

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in the ...

. Today, it shelters the center of new companies and technologies Valnalón and the Museum of the Siderurgy.

Industrial Heritage site

Important buildings are the church of San Pedro, the chapel El Llungéru, the former iron works factory Duro Felguera, engineers' houses in the street Conde Sizzo, former La Salle trade school, the engineers' chalet, Pedro Duro's statue, the Urquijo neighborhood, railway station, the former Nitrastur factory, the market and three parks (Dolores Duro, Sutu and García Lago).

Gallery

File:Kiosko La Felguera.jpg, Dolores Duro park File:Fábrica La Felguera-Langreo.jpg, Former La Felguera steelworks factory File:MUSI Felguera Langreo.jpg, Industry museum File:San pedro de la felguera.jpg, San Pedro church File:Rio nalon.JPG, Nalón river path File:Pozo Candín La Felguera Langreo.jpg, Candin former coal mine

References

External links

Villa de La Felguera
{{Authority control Parishes in Langreo Langreo