Walls of Ávila

Walls of Ávila

A perfect ring of stone

High on the plains of central Spain, where the winters are cold and the air is clear, the city of Ávila is wrapped in the most complete medieval city walls in the whole country. A great unbroken ring of golden-brown stone, more than two and a half kilometres long, encircles the old town, studded with 88 round towers and pierced by nine gateways. Seen from the surrounding hills, especially when floodlit at night, the walls make Ávila look like a perfect toy city out of a medieval picture.

Built to hold the frontier

The walls were begun around the year 1090, after Christian kings recaptured the area from the Moors during the long struggle known as the Reconquest. Ávila stood in an exposed and dangerous position, and strong defences were needed to protect the people who came to settle there and to guard the frontier.

Built mainly over the following century, the walls were designed for serious defence: the towers, set close together, allowed defenders to cover every stretch of wall, and the strong gateways could be shut tight against any enemy. The largest tower, the great cubo of the cathedral, was even built into the city's church, so that the cathedral itself formed part of the defences.

Saint Teresa's city

Ávila is famous far beyond Spain as the birthplace, in 1515, of Saint Teresa of Ávila, one of the most remarkable women of her age. A nun, writer and reformer, Teresa founded new convents, wrote books that are still read today, and was known for her deep faith and her practical good sense. She grew up within these very walls, and the city is filled with churches, convents and memories connected to her.

Because of Teresa and other holy people linked to the city, Ávila became known as a place of saints and prayer, drawing pilgrims as well as soldiers.

A city preserved

Unlike many cities that tore down their old walls to grow, Ávila kept its defences intact. Because the city never became a great modern industrial centre, its walls, churches and old streets survived remarkably well, frozen in their medieval form.

Today the walls of Ávila, together with the city's many churches, are protected by UNESCO as a world treasure, admired as one of the finest examples of a walled city anywhere in Europe.

Walking the walls

One of the great pleasures of visiting Ávila is that long stretches of the walls can be walked along the top, high above the streets and rooftops. From the wall-walk, visitors look down on the old town on one side and out over the wide plains of Castile on the other, with the towers marching away ahead of them.

Visiting today

Visitors can walk the ramparts, pass through the great gateways, and explore the old city within, including the cathedral built into the walls and the places linked to Saint Teresa. A famous viewpoint outside the city, the "Cuatro Postes", offers the perfect picture-postcard view of the whole walled town. Complete, golden and beautifully preserved, the walls of Ávila are one of the great wonders of medieval Spain.