Old Town of Ávila with its Extra-Muros Churches

A city inside its walls

Ávila, in the Castilla y León region of Spain, is encircled by the finest and most complete medieval walls in the country — and among the best preserved in all of Europe. The walled old town, together with a group of churches standing outside the ramparts, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.

The great Romanesque ramparts

Dating in their present form to the second half of the 12th century, the walls run for a perimeter of about 2,515 metres, enclosing some 33 hectares in a rectangle oriented east to west. They carry roughly 2,500 merlons, 87 towers and 9 gates, with walls about 3 metres thick and 12 metres high. Built of grey and black granite — partly reusing stone from the Roman necropolis and older fortifications — the two most heavily defended gates, the Alcázar and San Vicente, guard the vulnerable flat ground on the eastern side.

Churches within and beyond

The World Heritage listing gathers eleven monuments in all. Beyond the walled city they include the Basilica of San Vicente and the Romanesque churches of San Pedro, San Andrés and San Martín, along with the convents of La Encarnación and San José and the Royal Monastery of Santo Tomás — a remarkable concentration of medieval religious architecture.

Visiting

Much of the wall walk is open, offering a circuit of the ramparts and sweeping views over the old town and the Castilian plateau beyond.

• Location: Ávila, Castilla y León, Spain

• Walls: c. 2,515 m perimeter, 87 towers, 9 gates, 12 m high; 12th century

• Also listed: Basilica of San Vicente and churches and convents inside and outside the walls

• Status: UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985

• Visiting: Wall walk open; Romanesque churches and monasteries throughout