Piloña () is a municipality in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

and

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

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 communities of Spain, autonomous community in nor ...

, northwestern

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") , i ...

. Its capital is the town of Infiesto. Piloña is bounded to the north by Villaviciosa and

Colunga Colunga () is a municipality in the Autonomous community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It lies on the Cantabrian Sea, and is bordered to the west by Villaviciosa, to the south by Parres and Piloña, and to the east by Caravia. Polit ...

, to the east by

Parres Parres is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It is bordered on the north by Caravia and Ribadesella, on the east by Cangas de Onís, on the west by Piloña and Colunga, and on the south by Amieva ...

, to the west by Nava and Cabranes, and to the south by Ponga, Caso,

Sobrescobio Sobrescobio (; ast, Sobrescubiu) is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It is bordered on the north by Piloña, on the east by Caso, on the south by Aller, and on the west by Laviana. It is situate ...

and

Laviana Laviana ( Asturian: ''Llaviana'') is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, located in Spain. It is bordered on the north by Bimenes and Nava, on the south by Aller, on the east by Piloña and Sobrescobio, ...

. The area is semi-mountainous with many small, but deep and narrow valleys.

History

In prehistoric times there were paleolithic settlements in caves in Piloña such as Aviao (Espinaredo) Cave, Collaréu Cave, and La Peña Ferran (Ferran Rock) which were excavated by the Count de la Vega del Sella in the 1920s. There are several sites with paleolithic rock art and

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While th ...

remains, including Sidrón Cave in Borines. Piloña lies in a narrow basin that runs parallel with the coast. Over time it formed part of the natural path between

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 ap ...

and Cangas de Onís, which connects central

with the Asturian east. Piloña was the largest settlement along that path. In Roman times Beloncio was occupied, and is identified with the town Paelontium mentioned by Ptolemy as the capital of the

Astur The Astures or Asturs, also named Astyrs, were the Hispano-Celtic inhabitants of the northwest area of Hispania that now comprises almost the entire modern autonomous community of Principality of Asturias, the modern province of León, and the ...

tribe known as Lugones. There is also evidence of Roman occupation at Borines.

Economics

The area is poor and depopulating. There were over 20,000 inhabitants in 1930; 8,799 in 2001; and 8,440 in 2005. The three largest towns are Infiesto (with about 20% of the population), Villamayor and Sevares. All three are on the Piloña River, a left-hand tributary of the

Sella River The Sella is a river located in northwest Spain. It flows through the region of Asturias from the Picos de Europa to the Bay of Biscay of the Atlantic Ocean at Ribadesella Ribadesella (Asturian: Ribeseya) is a small municipality in the ...

, and on the main highway, the N-634. The area is agricultural with cattle being raised for both milk and meat, and with some production of forest products.

Parishes

There are 24 parishes (administrative divisions):

References

External links

Virtual Guide to Piloña, in Spanish

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20091115104838/http://www.piloastur.com/ Photo Archive of Piloña {{DEFAULTSORT:Pilona Municipalities in Asturias * Astures