The cimorro
The apse as a defensive tower, seen from outside the wall.
Fernando — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rafa Esteve — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rafa Esteve — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rafa Esteve — CC BY-SA 4.0
**Spain's first Gothic cathedral — and its apse is not an apse but a defensive tower in the city wall** — at the eastern end of the old town. Built from the **12th century**, ⚠ **it is reckoned the country's oldest Gothic cathedral** — earlier than Burgos and Toledo. ⚠ **What makes it unique is its incorporation into the wall**: **the eastern apse (the *cimorro*) is built as a massive defensive tower** forming part of the city's defences — ⚠ **battlemented and with arrow slits**; **the church is a fortress**. ✅ **The stone inside is strange**: **a local sandstone veined red and white** giving the columns a striking mottled look. ✅ **Its museum holds the *Agnus Dei* and sculpture by Alonso Berruguete.** ⚠ **Its western front was rebuilt** in the 18th century.
The apse as a defensive tower, seen from outside the wall.
Columns veined red and white in the eastern parts.
Paintings and sculpture by Berruguete and others.
Plaza de la Catedral, 05001 Avila, Spain
**One circle: inside the wall in the morning, outside it for the view at sunset — the city is very small.** ✅ **The order**: **start with the wall-top walk** — **early, before the sun or the wind get up**; ✅ **and from it you understand the whole shape of the city**. ✅ **Then the cathedral** (⚠ **and walk round it outside to see the *cimorro***), **then the basilica of San Vicente** just outside the eastern gate. ✅ **Then the Santa Teresa convent** in the southwest, **built on the site of her house**. ✅ **Lunch inside the walls** — ⚠ **and try the *chuletón de Ávila*** (an enormous veal chop) and ***yemas de Santa Teresa*** (an egg-yolk and sugar sweet, the city's most famous). ✅ **⚠ And in the afternoon walk out to Los Cuatro Postes** — **about 1.5 km west across the river** ⚠ (down and then up, or take a taxi); ✅ **and from there you see the whole walled circuit at once** — **the view you know of Ávila**, ✅ **best at sunset** when the granite turns gold. ⚠ **One day is enough** — ✅ **and the city makes an ideal day trip from Madrid** (about an hour and a half by train).
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