Onís, Asturias: municipality guide

Onís is one of the smallest municipalities in Asturias: 732 inhabitants on 75.42 km². Its capital is Benia de Onís (officially Benia). Nestled at the foot of the Cornión, the western massif of the Picos de Europa, it is known as the «heart of the Picos de Europa»; and its capital, Benia, is regarded as the great reference point for Gamonéu cheese, one of the Asturian cheeses with Protected Designation of Origin.

Things to see in Onís

Benia de Onís preserves the essence of the popular architecture of eastern Asturias: casonas (manor houses), emigrant indiano houses, hórreos and paneras (raised granaries). Standouts include the Casona de los Valles, from the 18th century, and other principal houses such as Casa Abajo, the Casa de Filomena Pellico and Casa Cebos, forming a well-preserved ensemble in a beautiful setting; alongside the parish church of Santa Eulalia, the capital’s main church.

View of Benia de Onís, the capital of the municipality of Onís. — Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Carmenmoran (CC BY 4.0)

In Sirviella stands the Torre de Sirviella, a 16th-century medieval tower that today presides over a meadow in the middle of the municipality —and even appears on the municipal coat of arms. Nearby, in Benia, is the «Las Montañas del Quebrantahuesos» (The Mountains of the Bearded Vulture) interpretation centre, dedicated to the project reintroducing this bird to the Picos de Europa.

The Torre de Sirviella, a 16th-century medieval tower in the municipality of Onís. — Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Xuliu Pombar (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Onís is also a land of caves. The Cueva de la Peruyal holds the complete skeleton of a steppe rhinoceros calf, a specimen unique in its species for having been found so complete and in anatomical connection. And in Avín, the Cuevona de Avín houses an interpretation centre on glacial fauna. Add to this the high mountain pastures (majadas) of the upper zone —such as Belbín— and the imposing limestone mass of the Cornión, with peaks topping 2,000 metres on the border with León.

The municipality is an ideal area for hiking and outdoor activities: a long-distance (GR) trail stage starts in Benia and leads to Cangas de Onís, and the traditional paths link cattle-farming villages such as Demués, Gamonedo —the highest village in Onís, where Gamonéu cheese is made— or Bobia, with its Buen Suceso church on a hill between the four villages.

How to get there

The AS-114 road crosses the municipality and connects Benia de Onís with Cangas de Onís to the west and with Cabrales and Panes to the east. Benia is about 88 kilometres from Oviedo.

Festivals and gastronomy

Benia’s patronal festival is that of Nuestra Señora de Castru, on 15 August: after the solemn mass at Santa Eulalia, a procession with the bagpipe band sets off to the Virgin’s chapel, a kilometre from the village, where the ramos are offered and the bread given to the patroness is auctioned. On the second Wednesday of August comes the Mercáu Asturianu «Onís años 20», a recreation of the market held in Benia every Wednesday in the 1920s. And on the last Sunday of October, the Certamen del Queso Gamonéu (Gamonéu Cheese Fair) celebrates the cheese with Protected Designation of Origin that is made more than anywhere else precisely in this municipality. The calendar also includes the San Isidro (15 May), San Mateo (21 September) and Christmas fairs in Benia, and the Fiestas de las Nieves in Bobia and Demués (5 and 6 August). On the table: Gamonéu cheese, meat, trout, milk and its derivatives, and garden produce.