I took quite a lot of photos while we were in Aviles, it’s such a lovely and historic place and when you keep walking to the top of the town you reach a very well used set of botanic gardens.
It’s quite a steep uphill walk to the park and gardens and I was amazed to see that the roads and pavements are made of polished marble – how posh is that? I suppose marble quarries in this region might be as common as slate and sandstone quarries in the UK, so they aren’t precious about it. The marble is scored every three inches or so, I imagine so that is isn’t slippy in damp or icy weather, not that they get much in the way of freezing weather in Aviles. The marble makes the place look very smart and opulent even although the buildings are obviously old and some in need of a bit of buffing up.
Sadly the marble doesn’t look nearly as nice in the photos as it does in reality.
These trees were at the bottom of the marble-paved street.
The next Aviles post will feature the park.
It all looks most elegant and gracious.
Valerie,
It’s such a shame that most visitors to Spain never visit this area in the north.
What a charming place! If your streets can’t be paved with gold, marble will do!
Joan,
You’re right and of course the gold would wear down quickly (and be nicked), the marble is forever!
A marble paved street? That does look rather elegant.
Stefanie,
And it is all intact, if it was here it would have been pulled up constantly for pipe or cable repairs and would be damaged every time!
What a beautiful place – and so spanish-looking! I love how the colours of the marble and the facades of the buildings complement each other so well. I saw something on tv once about how carefully they take up marble or other decorative tiling if repairs are needed below the surface. The workmen are real craftsmen.
Sandra,
That explains it then, I imagined maybe they just didn’t dig up their roads as often as we do here. It is a lovely place.