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Avila, Spain
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Avila, Spain's highest city in elevation, is a pre-Roman walled city two hours' drive north of Madrid; in fact, it is probably one of the best walled cities in the world. The walls were constructed following Alphonso VI's recapture of the city from Moors in 1085. (Click the picture to see an enlarged view.)
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The city walls are up to 9 ft thick, as can be seen in this part of the cathedral that abuts the walls and also functions as a fortress. Work on the cathedral, Spain's first Gothic cathedral, began around 1135 following a grant from Alphonso VII. Notice the Christ figure below the window and the window's shape to maximize archers' range. |
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Avila is the site of the martyrdom of three Christian siblings, San Vicente, Santa Cristeta, and Santa Sabina, on October 7, 306 CE. Legend says that the three bloody corpuses were flung outside the old city, where a snake took it upon himself to defend the bodies. A wealthy non-Christian is said to have encountered the bodies intending to profane them, but the snake restrained him. The fellow was so moved that he became a Christian and raised a shrine to the three on the site of what is now the Basilica of San Vicente. Today's Basilica was started at the end of the 11th century. A second miracle connected with the Basilica concerns an argument over where to bury the remains of San Pedro del Barco, the hermit. The factions decided to settle the question by placing the hermit's corpse on the back of a blind mule. The mule wandered to Avila, where it entered the Basilica and fell dead in the transept. San Pedro's body was buried on the spot. |
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The Palacio de los Dávila is a fine example of mediaeval Avila's "knightly spirit." The somewhat spartan palace was built in the 1200s and also served as a fortress, as it too abuts the city wall. |
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The wall's gates are used by both pedestrians and motor cars. This gate, the Puerta de la Santa, is at the Plaza de Santa Teresa de Jesus. Santa Teresa was a bold 16th century woman who founded a number of convents throughout the area, including one at the Plaza that now bears her name. At the time, the Church did not look kindly upon women assuming leadership roles, so Avila forbade Santa Teresa from being buried in the city, even though she performed much of her work in Avila. She was finally buried elsewhere, but Avila's citizens came to love the hometown saint like today's Americans love their hometown sports heroes. Avila demanded the body back but was refused. A group of vigilantes found the buried body and returned one of Santa Teresa's fingers to Avila. The finger is currently available for public inspection in Avila. |
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