In Spain's highest provincial capital, a granite wall more than two and a half kilometres long still encircles the whole old town, with its towers, its gates and its storks. When Ávila lost its political weight, no one had the money or the reason to pull it down. Twelve stops between the monastery where the only son of the Catholic Monarchs lies, the great Alcázar Gate, the cathedral that is also a fortress, the basilica of the three martyred siblings, the wall walk along the battlements, the square of the old forum, the font where Teresa of Ávila was baptised, the house where she was born, the gate facing the river and the viewpoint where two children set out in search of martyrdom. Approximate audio duration: 19 minutes.
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Ávila: dos kilómetros y medio de muralla y una ciudad que se quedó quieta
En la capital de provincia más alta de España, una muralla de granito de más de dos kilómetros y medio sigue rodeando entera la ciudad vieja, con sus torreones, sus puertas y sus cigüeñas. Cuando Ávila perdió su peso político, nadie tuvo dinero ni motivo para derribarla. Doce paradas entre el monasterio donde descansa el único hijo varón de los Reyes Católicos, la gran puerta del Alcázar, la catedral que es a la vez fortaleza, la basílica de los tres hermanos mártires, el camino de ronda sobre las almenas, la plaza del antiguo foro, la pila donde bautizaron a Teresa de Jesús, la casa donde nació, la puerta que mira al río y el mirador donde dos niños quisieron partir hacia el martirio. Duración aproximada de audio: 19 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~19 min of audio · 3.39 km on foot (~50 min walking) · about 1 h 15 min in total
You are standing before the Royal Monastery of Santo Tomás, about seven hundred metres south of the walls. Look at the plain granite façade, bearing the arms of the Catholic Monarchs and their emblems: the yoke and the arrows.
It was founded by the Dominicans at the end of the fifteenth century, thanks to the will of a royal treasurer, Hernando Núñez Arnalte, and to his widow, María Dávila. Building was completed in 1493.
Isabella and Ferdinand supported it generously and stayed here when they passed through Ávila. That is why it has three cloisters and the air of a palace.
Prince John, the…
2
The Alcázar Gate and the Numbers of the Wall
You are in the Plaza de Santa Teresa, which locals still call the Mercado Grande, the big market. In front of you rises the Alcázar Gate: two huge granite towers joined by an arch and crowned with battlements.
Look left and right. The wall runs on without a break, tower after tower. It encircles the entire old town for about two and a half kilometres, with eighty-seven semicircular towers and nine gates.
People often say it was built in just nine years, between 1090 and 1099, when King Alfonso the Sixth sent his son-in-law, Raymond of Burgundy, to resettle the city. That date comes from chro…
3
The Cimorro: a Cathedral That Is a War Tower
Look at this gigantic tower, much thicker than the others. It is no ordinary tower. It is the east end of Ávila Cathedral, built right into the wall.
The people of Ávila call it the cimorro. Behind those stones lie the high altar and the ambulatory. From outside, it is just another fortress, with battlements and a wall walk.
The cathedral was begun in the twelfth century, in the transition from Romanesque to Gothic. It is considered one of the first Gothic cathedrals in Spain.
In a frontier town, the most important church could not be left exposed. So it was made part of the defences. Churc…
4
The Basilica of the Three Martyred Siblings
You are in front of the Basilica of San Vicente, outside the walls. It is one of the great Romanesque churches of Spain, built in golden sandstone that contrasts with the grey granite of the walls.
According to tradition, three siblings died here: Vincent, Sabina and Christeta. They were Christians from Talavera who fled to Ávila during the persecution of Emperor Diocletian, at the beginning of the fourth century. They were caught and executed on a rock on this very spot.
Legend says their bodies were left unburied and that a serpent guarded them. A man who mocked them was attacked by the cr…
5
The San Vicente Gate: Entering the Closed City
You are at the San Vicente Gate. Like the Alcázar Gate, it consists of two massive towers joined by an arch, with a high passage linking them at the top. It is the grandest entrance on the east side.
Notice how narrow the passage is compared to the size of the towers. That is how a medieval gate was defended: anyone trying to force it was trapped between two walls, exposed to whatever was thrown down from above.
At night the gates were closed. The wall was also used to control who came in, to tax goods and to keep out epidemics.
Look up at the tops of the towers. You will probably see stork…
6
The Cathedral of the Bleeding Stone
You are in the Plaza de la Catedral, in front of the main façade. From here it looks like any other cathedral. But remember what you saw on the other side: its east end is a tower of the wall.
It is dedicated to the Saviour. Building went on through the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and the façade you see was remodelled much later. Only one of the two planned towers was ever finished.
If you go in, you will notice something odd at the east end. The stone is not grey. It is a sandstone mottled with red and yellow, which in Ávila is called bleeding stone. It came from a nearby …
7
Walking on the Wall
You have climbed onto the adarve, the wall walk that runs along the top of the walls. You are about twelve metres above the ground, between granite battlements, where the sentries once walked.
You cannot go all the way round up here. Some stretches are cut off or built into other buildings. But you can cover most of the circuit, split into several sections with separate access points.
Notice the thickness of the wall beneath your feet: about three metres. And the merlons, which number in the thousands. Between them the defenders shot and took cover.
Look outwards. To the north and east are …
8
The Mercado Chico, on the Old Forum
You are in the Mercado Chico, Ávila's main square, surrounded by granite arcades. The town hall stands on one side.
This has been the heart of the city for a very long time. It is thought that the forum of the Roman town, Abula, stood here, at the crossing of its two main streets.
Before the Romans, the area was inhabited by the Vettones, a Celtic people of the central plateau. From them the province keeps stone sculptures shaped like bulls or pigs, the verracos. Some are preserved in the city.
In the Middle Ages, while the Mercado Grande lay outside the Alcázar Gate, this was the market in…
9
The Font of the Child Teresa
You are in front of the church of San Juan Bautista, in the district around the Mercado Chico. From outside it is simple, built of granite like almost everything in Ávila.
Inside is a stone baptismal font. In it, on 4 April 1515, a girl from a family of the city's minor nobility was baptised: Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada.
She had been born a week earlier, on 28 March. Her paternal grandfather was a converted Jew from Toledo who had been tried by the Inquisition. The family settled in Ávila and prospered.
That girl would become Teresa of Ávila, Saint Teresa of Jesus. She reformed the Carmelite…
10
The House Where Teresa Was Born
You are in front of the Convent of Saint Teresa, which in Ávila is simply called La Santa. Look at the Baroque granite façade, with the figure of the saint at the top.
This convent of Discalced Carmelite friars was built in the seventeenth century over the Cepeda family house, where Teresa was born in 1515. The main chapel stands, according to tradition, on the site of the room where she was born.
Teresa died in 1582 in Alba de Tormes, far from here, and her body remained there. She was canonised in 1622. Shortly afterwards her devotees built this church to mark her birthplace.
In 1970 Pope…
11
The Bridge Gate and the River Adaja
You are next to the Bridge Gate, on the western side of the wall, the lowest side. Here the ground drops towards the river Adaja, just a few metres away.
From this side you can see why the site was chosen. The city sits on a rocky ridge. Towards the river, the slope itself was already a natural defence.
In front of the gate an old stone bridge crosses the river. For centuries it was the way to Salamanca and the west. Hence the gate's name.
Downstream by the river is the hermitage of San Segundo. Tradition holds him to be the first Bishop of Ávila, one of the apostolic men said to have come …
12
Los Cuatro Postes: the Whole City at a Glance
You are at Los Cuatro Postes, on a hill across the river. Four granite columns surround a cross. It is a humilladero, a wayside shrine where travellers stopped to pray as they entered or left the city. It was built in the sixteenth century.
Now turn around. There is Ávila in full, enclosed by its wall, tower after tower, the cathedral, the bell towers. It is the image everyone knows who has ever seen a photo of the city.
A childhood memory of Teresa is linked to this place. She herself tells in her Life how, as a girl reading the lives of the saints, she decided with her brother Rodrigo to g…
How long does the "Ávila: Two and a Half Kilometres of Walls and a City That Stood Still" audio tour take?
It has about 19 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 3.39 km walking route (~50 min on foot). Plan roughly 1 h 15 min in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "The Monastery of the Prince Who Never Reigned" (coordinates 40.6503, -4.6921). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Ávila and pick "Ávila: Two and a Half Kilometres of Walls and a City That Stood Still". No account required to start.
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