Avila – Spain’s magnificent walled city

On a cold, rainy day the walls of Avila stand against the dark gloomy grey sky. It feels a bit mysterious to live in a town that is almost completely walled in. The walls, built in the Middle Ages, are virtually the town’s symbol and are visible from almost any part of it.

Their surface tinged with a shade of ochre, the walls are interrupted by a series of semi-circular turrets, which add a geometric pattern. Standing 12 metres (39 feet) tall, these brown walls are punctuated with nine gates built across their total length of 2.5 km, with 88 towers that give the city its stony countenance.

Avila, however, has had a war-torn history prior to the construction of its impregnable walls. It was the home of the Celtic tribes known as “Vettones” around the 5th-7th centuries BC and was later invaded by the Romans around the First Century. During the Middle Ages (between the 7th and 11th centuries) there were frequent wars between the Islamic Moors and the Christian kingdoms and the walls were built to protect the town from further attack.

The journey up the walls takes me to new heights as Avila shows me her true colours. Huddled below are several pink, white and red houses looking petite as the walls wrap them in their folds. There are several routes and I begin at the Puerta Del Carmen, or the Gate of Carmen, that takes its name from a Carmelite convent attached to the walls. Looking down we see palaces and cathedrals dot the landscape. The Cathedral, built in medieval times, is a Gothic monument. It was also a fortress, where the apse is a turret, and forms a part of the city walls.

Avila also has a mystical side. It was home to several saints, including St Theresa of Jesus, the 16th century patron saint of Avila who had reformed the Carmelite Order across Spain. Almost every lane here leads you to palaces, monasteries, chapels and churches.

I head to a 17th century convent, which was once the home of St Theresa, the saint and writer who travelled from Avila to all over Spain reforming the Carmelite order. Built after her canonisation, the convent is closed to the public, but tourists can visit the chapel located inside the Baroque church.

We walk in to see St Theresa’s relics amidst the rosary and other personal effects. It is a fragile finger with a ring placed there as well. It is believed to be the finger from her right hand. But it is not just the relics. The silence in the chapel draws me like a magnet as I sit there for a while inside a reconstructed version of a cell where she prayed.

The tomb of Don Juan in Avila.

As the sun sets the city glows in a spectacular display of lights. I walk along the tiny cobbled lanes running into statues of saints. Bells greet me in every corner. And every lane leads to the walls.

I head to Santo Thomas Royal Monastery, built in the 15th century in a Gothic style. With three elegant cloisters, built across two storeys, the monastery holds the tomb of Prince Don Juan, the crown prince of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who are best known for sponsoring Christopher Columbus’ voyage.