Ávila, Spain

Ávila, sometimes called Ávila de los Caballeros or Ávila del Rey (Latin: Abila and Óbila) is the capital of the province of the same name, now part of the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain.

Geography

The city is 1117 meters (3665 feet) above sea level, the highest provincial capital in Spain. It is built on the flat summit of a rocky hill, which rises abruptly in the midst of a veritable wilderness: a brown, arid, treeless table-land, strewn with immense grey boulders, and shut in by lofty mountains. This results in an extreme climate, with very hard and long winters, and short summers.

History

Ávila may have been the ancient town known as Abula, mentioned by Ptolemy in his Geographia (II 6, 60) as being located in the Iberian region of Bastetania. Abula is mentioned as one of the first cities in Hispania that was Christianized, specifically by Saint Secundus (San Segundo). However, Ávila may have been the ancient Obila instead, while Abula may have been the town of Abla.

Ávila is most known for the medieval city walls, that were constructed of brown granite in 1090: surmounted by a breastwork, with eighty-eight towers and nine gateways, they are still in excellent repair, but a large part of the city lies beyond their perimeter. The Gothic cathedral is integrated into the city's defences. It was built between the 12th and 14th centuries, and has the appearance of a fortress, with embattled walls and two solid towers. It contains many interesting sculptures and paintings, besides one especially fine silver pyx, the work of Juán de Arfe, dating from 1571. The churches of San Vicente, San Pedro and San Segundo are, in their main features, Romanesque of the 12th century. In the Gothic Monastery of Santo Tomás, erected by the Catholic Queen Isabella in 1482, is especially noteworthy the marble monument, carved by the 15th-century Florentine sculptor Domenico Fancelli, over the tomb of Prince John, the only son of Ferdinand and Isabella.

Famous residents

Ávila was the birthplace of the 4th-century theologian Priscillian, the first Christian to be executed for heresy. The town is more renowned for St. Teresa of Ávila, the Carmelite reformer who lived there twelve centuries later (c. 1515-1582). A convent and church mark the supposed birthplace of Santa Teresa. Other prominent natives include Tomás Luis de Victoria and the Spanish-born American philosopher George Santayana. From 1482 to 1807 it was also the seat of a university.

It was the city that Orson Welles always wanted to live in, for unusual reasons. "Horrible climate, too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, very strange tragic place. I don't know why I want to live there." 

Food

Typical food in Ávila includes roast lamb, suckling pig, and veal steak. Ávila is also famous for its yemas de Santa Teresa - egg yolk candies named after the patron saint.

(c) wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81vila,_Spain