Avila and the Middle Ages

So, with only one month left to go before I return to the United States, I decided to visit the beautiful, walled city of Avila. This place gets its claim to fame from its imposing medieval walls which are some of the best preserved in all of Europe. The tiny old town is littered with convents and churches and there are certain places that have not changed one bit since the 1200s. Naturally, this kind of a place has legendary beginnings, some that even stretch all the way back to the times of Roman gods and goddesses. It is said that the original founder of Avila was Hercules, but in reality it was probably brought into existence by a collection of Iberian hunter-gatherers. Like most of the cities in this region, it was ruled over by the Romans, The Moors and the Spanish during a short 300 year period. Today, Avila is very much Christian, but there are other religious presences here too.

And so, with the history lesson out of the way, we can get onto the pictures. I honestly cannot tell you why I decided to visit this particular city in Spain, other than the fact that it was recommended by several of the travel sites and books I consulted.

The Avila Train Station

Just like at El Escorial, the train station was days away from the main city but after a while, I eventually made it to one of the main gates. Upon seeing this massive structure, I was literally taken a back. The tiny little European cars that were zipping around it truly seemed to be out of place alongside these massive stone walls and towers. 

One of the 88 gates that provide access into Avila's old city. 

Once I’d made a total ass of myself by standing in the middle of the road to get a tacky tourist picture, I headed over to the nearest cathedral, The Basilica of Martyred Saints Vincent, Sabrina and Cristeta, which was just beyond the city walls. This place was certainly a sight to see as it seemed to be going through a bit of an architectural identity crisis.  The exterior alone was finished in three different styles of architecture: Isabelline, Gothic and Romanesque.  Then inside there were decidedly Muslin elements and even a few Chinese influences on some of the altars.

Main facade of the Basilica

View of the gate from the pillars of the Basilica. 

Central nave and main altar

Random wooden altar with very Chinese roof and even a few oriental designs. 

Obligatory Organ photo

After the Basilica, I headed off to the Tourist center and for the first time in my life, paid for a map of a city. It was only 50 cents, so it was not that big of a deal, but I just found it funny that this place was my first. 10 minutes later, I had a rough plan for the day and I headed toward the main gate I’d seen before. As I walked up, I noticed a small crowd of people gathered on the left side of the gate and walked over to investigate. Within seconds it was clear what was going on and I felt a small part of my soul die. Avila was hosting a medieval fair and the crowd that I had just entered consisted of about 100 tourists, complete with awkwardly large strollers and crying babies, and 50 people dressed in garb from the Middle Ages. Just when I'd thought only Americans liked to exploit bygone cultures for capitalist ends...

Archers standing out side their prep tent while a really annoying American guy tells them all that he does the bow hunt every year back in the states. 

Medieval Archery!

With a little shoving and a lot of strained body movements, I made back through the crowd of tourists and back to the gate. I had stupidly hoped that maybe the ‘fair’ would only be happening outside the city only to discover that it went through the entire town. Literally. Everywhere I looked, there were people dressed up to the nines in fake velvet and aluminum chainmail, street vendors peddling handicrafts that had some kind of a medieval flair to them, and tourists with light summer clothing, already sweating in the Spanish heat.

Tourists milling around one of the many streets that had been turned into mini markets complete with hanging banners that looked like they had been stolen from the King Aurthur Carousel in Disneyland. 

I think my favorite part of this picture is that all three of these folks were wearing modern shoes and two of them were on their cell phones when I passed by. 

The only redemptive factor of this whole situation was the food which was, in a word, fantastic. Everywhere I walked, I encountered a new smell and was completely taken in by the various cooking methods employed in such small spaces. 

This was my breakfast. A double Chocolate Muffin, with course sugar and walnuts. So good!

Guy making bread the old fashioned way; in an oven made out of plaster and animal hair. 

This thing was so cool. Obviously it is a giant circular grill, but the kid tending the meat was able to turn the top part to ensure that all the different kinds of mean cooked evenly and stayed warm without becoming overdone. 

I let my nose eventually lead me to the front of the main Cathedral which is set right into one of the walls of the city. At first, I was not all that impressed with the place, especially considering the 7 euro entrance fee, but after a while, it began to grow on me. This place had two elements I had not yet seen in Spanish Cathedrals. The first was the use of internal support arches which were really cool to see stretching their ways across the building, halfway between the ceiling and floor. The other element was the use of very strange bricks that were red and white splotched, giving the ceiling an almost Dalmatian-like look. 

Front of the main Cathedral 

Side shot of the beautiful decorative architecture. 

Ceiling of the Bishop's Robing Room.

Cool lighting in the chapels behind the main altar

Stained glass and internal support arch. 

This made me really happy... those pipes are painted on. I don't know if this means that this cathedral did not have and organ, or that the pipes were concealed in the box but either way, I thought it was really silly. 

View of the main altar from the central nave. The blue coloring on the walls is due to the long rows of blue stained class that ran along the nave. 

Sometimes, you just need a picture of archways. 

When I walked out of the Cathedral, this band was playing in the courtyard and I was instantly reminded of the Feast of Fools from Hunchback of Notre Dame.

After the Cathedral, I decided to head to one of points that provide access to the city walls. My little ticket allowed me to visit both of the entrances and I decided to use my first right after purchasing and my second later in the day when I could get some nice sunset photos. Admittedly, I thought the walk along the walls was going to be a bit lame and that I would get bored with it rather quickly. Surprisingly though, I did not. I really enjoyed seeing the city and surrounding landscape from up high and from so many different directions too. The walk was actually pretty long and led me along the longest side of the city which was fine by me as I had a lot of fun taking pictures.

Turrets along the top of the wall. 

View of the Cathedral from the wall

Basilica of the Martyrs 

Cathedral and walls with part of the fair in the foreground. 

Convento De Los Dominicas 

At various points along the way, you could go up to the top of the guard towers but some had fallen into disrepair like this one. 

Church of Saint Martin, outside of the city walls. 

View of one of the best sections of the wall. 

Some of the turrets had makeshift arrow loops still in tact between them. 

Far end of the city relative to the train station. 

Once I finally made if off the wall, I was on the other side of the city and actually pretty close to a lookout point Lonely Planet had recommended. This place was supposed to afford the best views of the city and that was indeed the case. When I was walking along the wall, I didn’t really grasp just how big the city was, but seeing it all laid out before me, walls and all, I realized that this “little” town was not very little at all. As I stood there, I was reminded of the countless movies I have seen involving medieval castles and fortress-cities and the plots to overtake them.

View of the city from the hill behind Los Cuatro Postes

Los Cuatro Postes

Bridge I had to walk under to get back to the main city.

After getting my shots, I headed down to a local pub and got a bottle of water and headed back to the main city. I decided to take a little walk around the exterior so that I could see some of the other sides of the wall and explore a little park that was just beyond the old city. 

These walls really were so cool

Close up of the wall's construction. 

I really like this photo because it shows how the walls seem to raise right out of the rocks they sit on. 

View of the new city from the park

It was around this time that I realized just how hungry I was, so I set out in search of food. I remembered from this morning that there were several food stands for the Medieval Fair concentrated in the Plaza de Mercado Chico, so I headed there.

Bell tower of the church of San Juan. 

Plaza de Mercado Chico

Delicious split hard bread pizza topped with bacon and onions. YUM!

The remainder of my day was spent searching out various cathedrals and convents, half of which were closed. So rather than try to force transitory paragraphs, I will just cut right to the chase and show you the pictures, which we both know is the real reason you come here anyway. 

Main entrance to the Convento de Santa Teresa (I'll talk more about her later)

Later addition to the main convent. 

Ceiling of the main chapel. 

Small courtyard just off the main chapel

Beautiful gilt altar in one of the secondary chapels. 

Church of San Pedro

San Pedro from behind

Mansion de las Guillasmas. Notice how half of this thing is literally falling down. 

This is what the inside looked like. I guess they are restoring the entire building one section at at time. 

Convento de Santo Tome

Nave and main altar of the Basilica. See that large white thing on the floor beneath the altar? That is the tomb of a Spanish Prince

Choir Seats

One of the three cloisters in this convent. This one actually housed a life sciences museum and an oriental art gallery. 

Convento de San Jose. This place was not all that remarkable, but it had a lot of stuff about Santa Teresa. Just for your information, Santa Teresa is the patron saint of Avila as this place was her home for most of her church life. During her time, she opposed the wealth and opulence exhibited by the Catholic church and even started her own methods of teaching nuns which involved going without shoes. They would eventually become known as the barefoot nuns as a result. One of the main reasons she did this was because of her belief that we ought to be living a life that was closer to the life of the Savior and not one covered in gold and diamonds. At one point she was imprisoned for her radical ideas, but eventually she was released and opened several convents who taught her minimalist approach to Catholicism. 

One last view of the walls as the golden afternoon sun begins its decent. 

Finally, I had completed my list of things to see for the day and got a ham and cheese tart for dinner along with a few pieces of marzipan before heading back over to the wall to use the other half of my ticket for the sunset photos. Okay, now I know this will sound a little outrageous, but it is all true. As I was walking up to the ticket window, I checked my iPod and watched the time change from 7:31 to 7:32. When I got to the window, the woman sitting there told me that I was too late and that I would have to come back tomorrow. I looked at the sign and argued with her as the sign clearly said wall access ended at 8:00pm She then explained that you could not go up within a half hour of closing time and indicated the very small print on the sign which explained this. Again I protested as I had missed the time by a mere two minutes and I only wanted to take a few pictures. She was having none of it though and after giving me a crusty look, she waved me away.

By this point in the day, I was so frustrated by how many things were closed, by how many tourists were milling about, by how many people were wearing inappropriately timed clothing and passing it off as medieval, by how tired I was and by how much I’d wanted those darn photos, that I was not going to take this one lying down. I went back to the window and began arguing with her again, trying to explain that today was my one day in Avila and that I would not be able to come back tomorrow. After about 30 seconds, I realized it was pointless as she was explaining to me that if she allowed me to go up, she would have to allow everyone to go up. This little remark instantly made me feel like a child so I stomped off.

This is the section of the wall that I did not get to tour. 

As I walked away fuming, countless options ran through my head. I could lie and say that my little brother was up on the wall and that I needed to go and get him so we could go home. Then I thought of just making a run for it and along with that came spectacular images of me dodging, ducking and jumping over the ‘wall guards’ who may or may not have been wielding swords. And then I thought about asking another tourist to distract the woman while I sneaked up the staircase. A bolder and less tired version of me may have tried any number of those little tricks, but I was so over it by that point that I decided to just head back to Madrid on the next available train.

I know this post has ended on kind of a low note, but honestly, Avila has been my least favorite place I have visited in Spain.  I think a lot of that had to do with the fair and my increasingly sour mood, but it was all made a little bit better by the amazing sunset I watched while the train raced back to the Chamartin station and I listened to, “Never Let Me Go” on my iPod.