Walls of Ávila

Ávila's granite ramparts encircle the old city in an almost unbroken ring of 2.5 kilometres, 88 towers and nine gates, begun around 1090 after the Reconquista pushed the frontier south. They are among the best-preserved medieval city walls in Europe, glowing amber at dusk on the high Castilian plateau. Within them in 1515 was born Teresa of Ávila, the Carmelite mystic and reformer whose ecstatic visions—immortalised by Bernini in Rome—and barefoot 'discalced' order reshaped Catholic spirituality; she was later named one of the first women Doctors of the Church. The walls have stood siege, revolt and time, still tracing the medieval city intact.