Depending on what you are like, that might be a painting, a beautiful woman or man, a sunset, a landscape or just about anything that is stunning.
In the final few days of our motorcycle trip across Spain, Paul and I found a city called Ávila that was truly amazing because of the medieval wall built around it.
At the top of a nearby hill, we climbed off our bikes and just stood and looked at the amazing sight of the city before us. It blew me away....
(if you have never double-clicked on a blog photo before, now is the time)......
A short un-edited video overlooking the city....
The medieval wall surrounds the whole city and is about 40 feet or 12 metres high. There are 88 of the semi-circular towers built into the wall....
Ávila dates back to the 5th century BC, when it was inhabited by The Vettones who were one of the pre-Roman Celtic peoples of the Iberian Peninsula. The main wall surrounding the city was started in 1090.
The city also contains a high number of Roman and Gothic churches, one of which is extraordinary. The main Cathedral took 300 years to build between the 12th and 15th centuries. It contains a mixture of designs, reflecting the change in styles over the period of it's construction. This is the main entrance facade....
Just inside the entrance is a wooden model of the Cathedral, which was helpful to get an overview of the complex shape and sizes of its various parts....
The symmetry of the stone ceilings cannot fail to impress....
The scale of the interior is very impressive....
There is a stone screen that divides one part of the Cathedral from the main altar. The carving on the screen is exquisite and took 12 stonemasons five years to complete....
A book of songs, from the 5th century....
Ávila is a truly amazing place and we walked around the myriad of small narrow streets just looking at the incredible buildings and places to see. What a place this is....
Even though we returned from Spain a few weeks ago, I wanted to include a couple of final posts of that trip. I am so behind in my blogging!
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