History : Ávila: The Walls

Overview

The Walls of Ávila are like a book which tells the story of the history of Ávila and its peoples. Throughout history the Walls have been an active and determining factor in the way the urban development of Ávila was configured and in the distribution of the urban space amongst the various social groups which lived here (craftsmen, noblemen, clergy, Jews, “mudéjares” (Muslims permitted to live under Christian rule), vegetable gardeners, and so on). If the visitor studies this monument closely, he or she will see in it the representation through the ages of the eternal issues of power, wealth, honour. The route of the wall takes advantage of natural escarpments in the terrain and the difference in levels caused by the river Adaja. The East section crosses the only flat area and is the weakest part of the whole structure; this explains why this section has the most significant defences of the whole structure. The area within the walls measures 33 hectares and a number of suburbs have always been outside the walled enclosure.

In 1985 it was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO.
Founded in the 11th century to protect the Spanish territories from the Moors, this 'City of Saints and Stones', the birthplace of St Teresa and the burial place of the Grand Inquisitor Torquemada, has kept its medieval austerity. This purity of form can still be seen in the Gothic cathedral and the fortifications which, with their 82 semicircular towers and nine gates, are the most complete in Spain.

History

In the confrontation between the Christian kingdoms of the north and the Muslims of Al-Andalus, the kingdom of Alfonso VI was particularly significant; the Christian armies finally won important cities south of the Duero (Salamanca, Ávila, Segovia, Sepúlveda) as well as Toledo. These were the last two decades of the 11th century, the time of El Cid. They were warlike times, of great insecurity, so that in Ávila everything relating to war was very prestigious. It is worth bearing in mind that the Muslims were still relatively close and made sporadic counter-attacks (in 1109 they recaptured nearby Talavera). The exact chronology of the erecting of the Walls of Ávila is not known. Chronicles written in later years and local tradition say that building was begun at the end of the 11th century and that the work lasted nine years. However, it is difficult to believe that with the small population of the city and its weak economy in those early decades, coupled with the political and social instability of the time, it would have been possible to erect in such a short time the 2516 metres of perimeter, with an average thickness of 3 metres and a height of 12 metres, and the 88 towers or round turrets.
It would have been a huge task, notwithstanding the fact that in many sections of the wall they re-used blocks of stone fashioned in Roman times which came from the necropolis, from civil constructions or even from the old Roman or Visigoth wall. We know that from 1135 onwards the city began a process of political consolidation and economic prosperity. This circumstance, together with other historical indicators, has led the most recent studies to claim that, although there was a modest wall from the very beginning of the conquest in 1085, the current wall is a work of the second half of the 12th century. In fact, a royal document from 1193 alludes to the fact that in that year construction was taking place on the “fortress and the powerful towers ... to defend oneself from the incursions of enemies”. Around the same time (in addition to Notre Dame in Paris) the walls of Salamanca, Segovia and Soria were being erected. These fortified Castilian cities served both to prevent the Muslims from advancing through the natural passages of the “Sistema Central” mountain range and as a base for the Christian knights from which to raid Muslim lands.

In the Middle Ages, to enjoy the distinction of being a city it was indispensable to have walls. “Las Partidas” (the official records) say “The king must do honour to his lands, and in particular by ordering the enclosing of his cities ... within strong walls and strong towers, for this makes them more noble, more honourable and more stately”. Quite apart from the splendour the walls gave to the cities, they were greatly esteemed because they offered, according to the records, “great security and great protection to everyone at all times”. The medieval obsession with security also took the form of intimidating or dissuading the enemy; in this there is no doubt that the lofty sections and abundant towers of the walls of Ávila were always effective: there is no record of this city ever having been besieged by any army.

However, since the use of artillery became widespread after the 16th century, walls this high lost much of their purpose. Since then, apart from being an emblem of the city, they have performed other functions for which they were not originally intended, but no less important: a barrier against the plague, a tax barrier, a customs post. With the arrival of the 19th century, bourgeois pragmatism put the survival of the Walls in grave danger. One of the Development Ministers of the time, Pascual Madoz, recommended that the walls be knocked down, arguing that “though this fortification may have been impregnable in its day, today it is prejudicial to the better and greater part of the population which lives outside it”. Imitating what happened in other Spanish and European cities which still had walls, the Council of Ávila decided to knock down the walls to facilitate trade between the suburbs and the centre. Fortunately, and paradoxically, limited economic activity, together with the extreme demographic decline of the city – which had only marginally more than 4000 inhabitants, when in the 16th century it had exceeded 13000 – prevented the work of knocking down the walls from being carried out. The declaration of the Walls of Ávila as a National Monument in 1884 saved them definitively.

Gates, towers, palaces

The Alcázar Gate is the most solemn element of the whole structure. Opposite the Great Market and next to the restored Homage Tower, it consists of an entrance arch which looks small next to the two immense parallel towers which flank it. These towers are connected at the top by a spectacular bridge which extends beyond the line of the walls. This bridge, like that of the San Vicente Gate, is unique amongst European city walls. Although it might be considered a kind of triumphal arch, there is no doubt that its principal function was to reinforce the defences of the gate. The defensive potential can be understood better if one takes into account that there were other defensive elements which no longer exist today, such as the drawbridge, the ditch or moat, and the barbican. At each end of the entry passage there were wooden, iron plated doors, reinforced with a bar. Between them was dropped the portcullis (a heavy iron grille). The San Vicente Gate is similar to the Alcázar Gate, but has not suffered such ostentatious restoration.

The apse or head of the cathedral, known to the locals as the “cimorro”, is embedded in the wall, and thereby forms one of the strongest elements of the whole defensive structure. The external part of the apse, which gives onto the calle San Segundo, is a cover added at the end of the 14th century to hide the secondary apses and reinforce the military character of the temple. The apse has three rows of battlements, each higher than the last and the outside one has enormous battlements and a gallery for soldiers to carry out their sentry walk. This original architectural feature clearly expresses the spheres of power – civil and religious – typical of medieval times.

Throughout the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance period the local nobility liked to build its mansions backing onto the walls, in the upper part of the city, to associate their families with this symbolic and prestigious structure. In fact, one of the functions of the wall was to establish the class system: the powerful lived inside and in the upper reaches of the enclosure, and those less fortunate had to settle outside the walls and in the damp areas which saw little sunshine. This explains why the most important palaces in the city are built backing onto the wall: the Dávila Palace, the Palace of Villafranca and las Navas, the Palace of Navamorcuende and Villatoro, the Núñez Vela Palace (in the southern section) and the Sofraga Palace, the Águila Palace and the Bracamonte Palace (in the northern section).

The Architects

There has been much discussion concerning the identity of the architects of these walls. The mythical Chronicles state that responsibility for their initial construction fell to two master geometricians, the Roman, Casandro and the Frenchman, Florín de Pituenga; however, the style of construction suggests someone more familiar with the Arabic building style. Although the walls of Ávila are much less homogeneous than is usually claimed, there are certain styles of construction that suggest a formal similarity with the walls of Toledo or others under the influence of the Al-Andalus Moorish kingdom. These features include for example the regular stonework and the gate between two towers. In addition we know that the “mudéjares” were directly responsible for maintenance of the wall. This explains the existence of aesthetic details typical of Al-Andalus such as the use of red brick in the corner friezes which run below the battlements in the towers on the North and West sides, or the use of brick “alfiz” (a Moorish arch) to frame the climb up to the towers from the sentry walk. It is both paradoxical and moving that the element which personifies the bellicose attitude of Ávila to the Moors was maintained by the descendants of those against whom it was built.

One final aspect: a document from the Municipal Archive of 1481 describes in great detail the obligations of the different social groups regarding the wall: the knights and noblemen had to perform sentry duties outside; the common people of the city kept watch from the battlements; the peasants from outside were responsible for repairing the battlement parapets, cleaning the ditches and bringing the necessary stone, lime and sand; the Jews provided the iron and the Moors were directly responsible for the stonemasonry work. So the secret of how this impressive structure was maintained was that everyone played a role. It may be that this has permeated people’s collective memory and for this reason there is not a single inhabitant of Ávila who is not proud of their city walls.

With thanks to Serafín de Tapia for writing this guide