Avilés (Spanish pronunciation: [aβiˈles]) is a city in Asturias, Spain. Avilés is with Oviedo and Gijón, one of the main towns in the Principality of Asturias. The town occupies the flattest land in the municipality, in a land that belonged to the sea, surrounded by small promontories, all of them having an altitude of less than 140 metres. Situated in the Avilés estuary, in the Northern Central area of the Asturian coast, west of Peñas Cape, it has a national seaport and is an industrial city. It is close to popular beaches such as Salinas. It also has important churches like St. Thomas of Canterbury. Avilés has the Centro Cultural Oscar Niemeyer, too.