Spain: Avila, In the City of Stones and Saints

Spain: Avila, In the City of Stones and Saints

Kon Hans

The city of Avila, one and a half hour’s drive from Madrid, invites the visitor to a magical journey into the history

"High up in the mountains and made from sun, soil and stone and frozen winds that swipe the plains, Avila is a shining Lady that rules from inside her huge walls…”

Walls and Cathedral of Avila

And so begins the story of the unique Avila, the “City of Stones and Saints” (Ciudad de los Cantos y los Santos), with its numerous churches, monasteries and the massive walls that embrace her and immerse her in a glorious medieval tale. A small city of 60,000 inhabitants with a rich history emerges majestically, firm as a rock in its small valley, under the shadow of the Sierra de Gredos, in the highlands of Castile, inviting the visitor to traverse its gates with its colossal impregnable walls looming above, for a magical journey in history, just one and a half hours’ drive from Madrid.

UNESCO Monument

View of Avila from the Walls

Spanning over two and a half kilometers in length the medieval defensive walls of Avila, the best preserved in Europe, protected the historic city perched at an altitude of 1,131 m., not only from enemies but also from the icy northern winds. Today, they are the biggest attraction of a city that its historical centre has been classified since 1985 as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Half the wall is navigable on foot (approximately a distance of 1 km) by paying a small fee and it is possible to learn about all the stages of its construction through a really well structured explanatory path. The view from up there, from the turrets and battlements, is stunning, both of the historic center of the city, down below, and of the nude and purple horizon far away.  However, beyond their eerie beauty, the walls of Avila carry a great symbolic weight: constructing them, maintaining and manning them required a great joined effort from its multiethnic population; and so Arabs, Jews and Spaniards, the farmers, the masses and the nobles alike, all came together for a project which was of everyone’s concern, and each and everyone left a small part of their sweat and of their soul in those walls. When you finish walking on the walls you have two options: either turning back the way you came or, even better, descending at the West Gate and returning through the city's historical centre. 

Walls of Avila

Walking through the alleys of the historic center, you feel the omnipresent walls around you and the feeling of protection they radiate, just as the cityspeople would have felt as they headed for the picturesque Plaza del Mercado Chico (Small Market Square) to do their daily shopping with the voices of the merchants still reverberating through the mists of time. Many small shops with a variety of local delicacies can be found all around: it is worth mentioning the Yemasde Santa Teresa, a handmade egg-based dessert renowned throughout Spain, which we can find mainly in the famed Patisserie Flor de Castilla along with other excellent delicacies.  Furthermore, apart from the great desserts, Avila is famous for its genuine Castilian gastronomy which is ideally combined with its mountainous character: Barco de Avila big beans for an exquisite cocido (soup with meat, vegetables and legumes), huge juicy veal t-steaks Chuleton de Avila or the spicy reddish potatoes “revolconas”, containing smoked paprika of the finest quality. A first class restaurant, in the historic centre, where you can sit in an authentic Castilian atrium and enjoy all of the above mentioned plus the world-famous cochinillo asado (small piglet cooked entire in a stone oven), is the Las Cancelas 

Religious tourism

Walls of Avila

After completing this culinary marathon and for a good digestion you can wander around the rest of the city, outside the walls. Religious tourism is thriving in Avila, which in fact holds the record of the highest number of churches in proportion to its residents in the whole Spain, thus it is guaranteed that on every corner of the street you will come upon the carved gate of a temple. Nonetheless, it is recommended to visit to the Cathedral of Avila, which is attached to the walls, and a part of them in reality, since it was designed for military use with a unique Gothic character.

Noteworthy are also the Basilica of San Vicente with a unique example of Romanesque sculpture: the Cenotaph of the Holy Brothers Martyrs, the Church of San Pedro and of course the Royal Monastery of St. Thomas, of which the imposing Gothic architecture reflects its dark reputation as the seat of the Inquisition and posterior residence of the notorious and dreadful Grand Inquisitor Tomás de Torquemada. The Museum of Avila on the other hand is an ideal place for a virtual walkthrough of the multifaceted history of the place, whereas in its two impressive buildings the whole history of the creation of the city unfolds: from the Celtic tribes and all the way to the Romans and the Visigoths, later the Arabs and finally reaching the recent harsh rural life of its inhabitants and their traditions, which revive in specially designed rooms that seem to have been transferred intact from a mansion of that era. Here you can also admire the mysterious monolithic Bulls of Guisando (Toros de Guisando) or stand spellbound over the incredibly geometrical Roman mosaic at the floor of the entrance.

When the time comes to leave the legendary walls behind, watching them as they melt in gold as the pure white light washes the stony valley, Avila will be the radiant lady of the medieval tale as she beats you farewell, proud in her cold, beautiful loneliness.

Published in KATHIMERINI ©, on February 2, 2013 (transl. & edited from greek, original here )

 (All fotos by Kon Hans)

Walls with the Cathedral of Avila

Basilica of San Vicente

Bulls of Guisando

Bridge over the main Gate of the Walls

Museum of Avila