Muralla de Ávila

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About Muralla de Ávila

The wall of Ávila completely surrounds the old town, in a rectangle of about 33 hectares oriented east–west. It has 2,515 meters of perimeter, 87 semicircular towers, called cubos, about 2,500 battlements and 9 gates. The walls average 12 meters in height and 3 meters in thickness, built of granite.

Excavations show that there was already a Roman wall on the same alignment in the 1st century. The work seen today is medieval: it was rebuilt after the conquest of Toledo by Alfonso VI and underwent further work under Alfonso VIII in the second half of the 12th century. Stones from the Roman necropolis and older walls were reused in the construction.

The most fortified gates are on the east side, the flattest and most exposed: the Puerta del Alcázar and the Puerta de San Vicente. In front of the Puerta del Alcázar lies the Plaza de Santa Teresa, also called Mercado Grande, dominated by the Iglesia de San Pedro, Romanesque, mentioned in a document from 1103. In the 16th century, noble houses attached to the wall became palaces, and the cathedral's apse is part of the east side itself.

The route along the adarve, the patrol path on top of the wall, is made in separate sections, with access points at the Puerta del Alcázar, the Casa de las Carnicerías, the Arco del Carmen and the Puerta del Puente by the Adaja river. The wall and the historic center, with the churches outside the walls, have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.