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History
Decoration, furniture and equipment make of Dindurra the best coffee shop in Gijón and one of the most remarkable lounges in the country.
Generation after generation, the Café Dindurra has remained one of the essential social gathering places in Gijón. The progressive disappearance of the great historic coffee houses during the last third of the 20th century converted it into a unique space in the city and in Asturias.
Manuel Sánchez Dindurra, an essential Gijón native
In the last years of the 19th century, architecture was a fundamental resource for publicly showing Gijón's economic strength.
Manuel Sánchez Dindurra, a wealthy businessman, embarked in 1898 on the adventure of building a new theatre and, to do so, he commissioned the architect Mariano Marín Magallón, the most renowned architect at the time, to build half of the block located between the streets Casimiro Velasco, Covadonga and Paseo de Begoña, in the center of which the Dindurra Theatre was built.
A record time construction
The complex was built in the record time of ten months, opening to the public coinciding with the celebration of the Regional Exposition in the summer of 1899.
Marín Magallón's initial project was for the first floor at the junction of Paseo de Begoña and Covadonga Street to be the entrance hall to the theatre, however it also housed a small space for a café and a room for a restaurant, both areas linked to the activity of the coliseum.
Thus the Café Dindurra was born
In 1901, Manuel Sánchez Dindurra commissioned the same architect to transform these independent spaces into a single space with an autonomous activity. Thus, the Café Dindurra was born.
Laureano Junquera Rodríguez first took over the management of the premises until 1921, through the company Junquera Hermanos and then independently, after this period he transferred it to his brother-in-law Celestino Nosti Felgueras. The Nosti family will be in charge of the business for the next 92 years.
Avant-garde and Art Deco design
In the spring of 1931, Celestino Nosti commissioned an extensive remodelling of the Dindurra café. Manuel del Busto, the most famous architect in the city, transformed the business into a modern facility with all the amenities of the time, characterized by an avant-garde Art Deco aesthetic, with a unique plaster ornamentation created by the sculptor Pepín Morán.
During the civil war, the bombings of the German Legion Condor destroyed the Dindurra Theatre, although the Café survived the catastrophe. After the civil war it was rebuilt and renamed Jovellanos Theatre. Except for some colour variations in its painting, the place hardly underwent any changes until the early 1970s, when part of the original furniture of the theatre was removed.
The worst omens
On November 20, 2013, the Dindurra closed its doors. In addition to the public commotion caused by the unexpected news, the uncertainty over the possibility that the business might not reopen its doors as a café was not well received.
The worst omens disappear in the spring of 2014, when the Gavia Group took over the premises with the intention of maintaining its activity in the hospitality business.
A new era
The challenge arose immediately: the café, worn and battered after more than eight decades of intensive use, had to be refurbished, with up-to-date facilities whilst at the same time maintaining its unique avant-garde style. The Dindurra Cafe is now protected due to its singularity and uniqueness. Under the direction of the architect Antonio Fernández Morán, the works will last six months, with the participation of the decorator José Antonio Menéndez Hevia.
The XXI century commences, for the Café Dindurra during the fall of 2014, initiating a new stage that allows Gijón to maintain one of its main landmarks and at the same time one of its most singular architectural works in the region. After over a century of activity, the Dindurra is still part of the present and the future of our city.
