Felguera Factory (in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

''Fábrica de La Felguera'') was the early manufacturing facility of what is now the company Duro Felguera, located in

La Felguera La Felguera is a parish of Langreo, and the most important district in the municipality of Langreo ( Principality of Asturias) in northern Spain, with 21,000 inhabitants. It is located 18 minutes by car to Oviedo, the capital of Asturias. La Fel ...

, (

Principality of Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

, northern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

). Although the facility is no longer in operation, 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 ...

(

ferrous metallurgy Ferrous metallurgy is the metallurgy of iron and its alloys. The earliest surviving prehistoric iron artifacts, from the 4th millennium BC in Egypt, were made from meteoritic iron-nickel. It is not known when or where the smelting of iron from ...

) is located in one of the structures. ''La Factoría de Gíl y Compañía'' existed in the area, in the Vega neighborhood, since 1856. Pedro Duro founded the ''Sociedad Metalúrgica de Langreo'' (Langreo Metallurgical Society) on 21 May 1857. He built his company with his partners Vicente Bayo and Francisco Antonio de Elorza y Aguirre, between 1857 and 1859 on land known as ''El Pradón de La Felguera'' (English: ''The big meadow of La Felguera''). The furnace was lit in 1859, and iron was produced the following year. His intention was to introduce the modern steel industry into the town, taking advantage of existing area resources, such as coal, the rivers Nalón and Candín, the Carbonera Road, and Langreo Railway, which joined the municipality of Langreo with

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality by population in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coa ...

. It was one of the most important steel and iron works centers in Spain and promoted the progress of Asturias as an industrial region. The factory closed in 1984.

Gallery

File:Siderurgiamuseo.jpg, Current Museum of Siderugy File:Pedro duro.jpg, Pedro Duro File:Fabrica La Felguera.jpg, Felguera Factory in the early 20th century File:Fábrica La Felguera-Langreo.jpg, Laboratories building today

References

Bibliography

* ''Duro Felguera, una empresa de tres siglos Germán Ojeda''. Nobel. La Felguera 2008 * ''Duro Felguera, historia de una gran empresa industrial''. Germán Ojeda. Grupo Duro Felguera. Oviedo 2000 * ''La Fábrica de Duro Felguera. Imágenes 1984-1986''. Antonio Ramón Felgueroso Durán. La Felguera 2005 * ''Pedro Duro, un capitán de la industria española''. Francisco Palacios. Grupo Duro Felguera. Langreo 2008 {{coord missing, Spain 1857 establishments in Spain Steel companies of Spain Buildings and structures in Asturias Langreo Manufacturing companies established in 1857 Iron and steel mills