Avila

Avila, at 3,700 feet, is the highest provincial capital in Spain. It was a frontier battle zone between the Moors and the Christians until finally secured by King Alfonso for the Christians. After his victory he ordered the city ringed by defensive walls and this was completed by 1091. So the walls are old, but still complete and look in remarkably good fettle.

A stroll around the exterior of the walls reveals the city in a pleasant setting.

It’s a city of fine churches both within the walls and outside. Up next is the Romanesque church of San Pedro in the square where we had coffee, followed by the church of San Vicente who was reputedly martyred on that spot with his two sisters.

Entering through the gateway reveals a proper town with shops and restaurants as well as historic buildings. The cathedral rear wall forms part of the battlements but doesn’t look overly impressive from the outside.

We decide to enter and take the audio guided tour. First impressions are unremarkable- having seen many cathedrals, it’s easy to forget that these are all amazing structures.

Approaching the rood screen (the beige screen at the bottom of the above photo) you see that the carvings are exceptionally fine, depicting what might be a typical Saturday night in Huntingdon High Street.

The quality of the stone carvings throughout are top grade, including some with humour. This nobleman’s sarcophagus features a rotund soldier of Moorish appearance sat on his feet. We don’t know the significance.

 Even odder is another carved figure with a plaque beneath showing two monkeys pulling each other’s hair. The carver’s way of saying that Lord X was a bit of a monkey?

The workmanship gets more breathtaking the more we see. At the altar end is a magnificent gold panel. It’s not so much about the huge expense and quality of what we’re seeing but the way the architecture and décor blends so harmoniously.

A side chapel has this exceptional roof.

 Following the numbered stations, the audio guide delivers its piece at each stop. We are halted at the Monstrance, a wedding cake affair about 2 metres tall that was carried around in processions on certain holy days. The Monstrance is certainly monstrous.

Next an illuminated medieval manuscript, a musical score. You can imagine the monks tapping their feet to the tune they were carefully scripting.

There was much more architecture and work of art of the highest quality. The cathedral certainly surpassed our initial expectations. We felt it was one of the most interesting we had seen, part of which was down to the excellent presentation and audio guide.

We leave again at maximum cultural capacity, but pass a pretty street on the way back to the car park. It’s possibly the Spanish equivalent of the Hovis advert street.

We were tempted by these scrummy looking cakes, but with a name like that you can’t take the chance in the confined space of a caravan.

Avila had more to explore than we could fit in. A city not on the ‘A’ list tourist itinerary but all the better for being less crowded and selfie driven.