Avila, open to the world
- Position
- Ávila
- Type of route
- One day
- Web
- To know more
Visitors eager to explore modern-day Ávila should take the time to stroll around its streets, squares and corners, taking in the sights and sounds. Known as the ‘City of Knights’ and protected by its imposing defence walls, it boasts a prime location close to Madrid, Valladolid and Toledo that opens it up to the world, offering visitors a fascinating insight into the history and art that tell the tale of its thousand year history.
Declared a UNESCO World Heritage City in 1985, visitors can sample the city’s superb gastronomy, explore its magnificent historic buildings and trace the legacy left behind by Saint Teresa of Ávila.
This route includes the following sites of interest: Ávila City Walls and Gates, Ávila Cathedral, the Basilica of San Vicente, the Monastery of Santo Tomás, The Santa Teresa Relics Museum, the Monastery of La Encarnación, Ávila Museum and the Mysticism Interpretation Centre.
Image gallery
What to see?
Basilica of San VicenteMore informationThe Basilica of San Vicente or Basilica of Los Santos Mártires Vicente, Sabina y Cristeta, was built in honour of these brothers, martyred in the 4th century during the persecution of the Christians ordered...
Walls and Puertas de AvilaMore informationWith a perimeter of 2,516 metres, this spectacular wall was built for defence purposes with the stones from ancient Roman buildings and funerary stelae. The current wall appears to have been erected during...
Monastery of the EncarnacionMore informationEstablished in 1479 by Doña Beatriz de Higuera, this was the convent chosen by Santa Teresa to enter as a novice in the Carmelite order in 1535, and where she lived for 27 years until she departed to carry...
Monastery of Santo TomasMore informationThe building of the Royal Monastery began in 1482 with the construction of the Cloister of the Novitiates. It has other two splendid cloisters: the Cloister of Silence, also known as Cloister of the Deceased,...
Museum of AvilaMore informationThe museum, created to provide an exhibition space for Avila’s tangible culture, boasts a wealth of works covering various fields, ranging from archaeology to fine arts, ethnography and bullfighting.The...
Interpretation Center of the MysticismMore informationThis unique proposal shows the complexity of mysticism and, at the same time, its profound simplicity. At its spaces happens the meeting of different artistic disciplines and techniques of architecture,...
Relics Room Convent of Santa TeresaMore informationThe Relics Room is located in the Convent of Santa Teresa, dedicated to one of the most representative figures of this city of Castilla y Leon. The visitor, along the dependencies, may contemplate different...
Cathedral of AvilaMore informationIt is a cathedral-castle, with fully integrated battlements, crenellations and lookout walkways.Its history in inextricably linked to the history of the town. Its apse, for example, the so-called Cimorro,...