Nava, Asturias: municipality guide

Nava is a municipality in central Asturias, capital of the Mancomunidad Comarca de la Sidra (Cider Comarca) and known as the Asturian cider capital. Its capital is Nava. With 5,244 inhabitants and 95.81 km², it is a municipality of meadows and forests where the cider culture pervades everything: museum, festival, cider presses and espichas.

Things to see in Nava

The Museo de la Sidra de Asturias (Asturias Cider Museum) is the emblem of the municipality: a semicircular building by the architect Juan Ramón Fernández Tresguerras, opened in 1996 by the Prince of Asturias, which traces the journey from apple to bottle —blossom, mayada (harvest), the llagar (cider press) and the espicha—. It is the essential visit to understand why Nava is the cider capital, a title reaffirmed in 2025 as the Asturian cider capital.

Asturias Cider Museum, in Nava. — Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Zarateman (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Among the civil heritage stand out the medieval palace of La Cogolla and the palace of La Ferrería, where Doña Jimena, the wife of El Cid Campeador, was raised. The landscape combines meadows —more than half of the territory, linked to livestock farming— with large woodlands of pine, eucalyptus, ash, yew and oak. The Sierra de Peñamayor, on the boundary with Bimenes and Laviana, is famous for the autumn bellowing of the deer; to the south rises La Triguera (1,293 m), the highest point of the municipality.

Sierra de Peñamayor, in the municipality of Nava. — Photo: Wikimedia Commons / McBodes (CC BY 3.0)

The rivers Pra and Viao give rise to the river Piloña, and the Punegru is a tributary of the latter. The town of Nava, 245 metres above sea level, concentrates services and commerce, with a weekly market every Saturday. The Sierra de Ques, to the east, forms the boundary with Piloña.

How to get there

The N-634 national road crosses the municipality from west to east (kilometres 369 to 381) and connects it with Oviedo and Santander; the AS-251 heads towards Bimenes and local roads link the parishes with the neighbouring municipalities of Sariego and Cabranes. Nava is 32 kilometres from Oviedo.

Mapa del concejo de Nava: la capital, en dorado. Datos © OpenStreetMap (ODbL).

Festivals and gastronomy

Since 1969 the Festival de la Sidra (Cider Festival) has been held, declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest, which has brought the municipality great popularity: tastings, a pouring (escanciado) competition and the traditional espicha are its essence. The weekly Saturday market is a fixed date in the town. On the table: natural cider from the local llagares, Ovín cheese, meat from the livestock of the meadows and classic Asturian dishes such as fabada.