La Felguera is a parish of

Langreo Langreo (; ast, Llangréu) is a municipality and town in northern Spain, in Asturias. It is the 4th largest town of Asturias with 43,000 inhabitants. Langreo is located in the centre of Asturias, approximately south-east of Oviedo. It was an im ...

, and the most important district in the municipality of

(

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 coextensive ...

) 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") , i ...

, 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 ap ...

, 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 Felguera Factory (in Spanish ''Fábrica de La Felguera'') was the early manufacturing facility of what is now the company Duro Felguera, located in La Felguera, (Principality of Asturias, northern Spain). Although the facility is no longer in oper ...

(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 dea ...

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 f ...

-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-resistant ty ...

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 pre ...

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 i ...

(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 atmospheric ...

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 specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

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 Pinacoteca Eduardo Úrculo is an arts center and municipal art gallery located on Calle La Union in La Felguera, Langreo, Asturias, Spain specializing in the period of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). It opened on 27 April 2007 and was ...

. The International Tales Competition is one of the most important in the

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

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

Valnalón VALNALON (Ciudad Industrial del Valle del Nalón, S.A.U.) was created by the Department for Industry and Labour of the Government of the Principality of Asturias, Spain in 1987. The goal is to design and implement a plan to regenerate, promote and ...

and the

Museum of the Siderurgy The Museum of the Siderurgy of Asturias (in Spanish ''Museo de la Siderurgia de Asturias''), is a museum located in La Felguera, in the Principality of Asturias, northern Spain. It is also known as ''the MUSI''. History The museum is located i ...

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