Ávila

Sister cities

• Teramo
• Villeneuve-sur-Lot
• Rueil-Malmaison
• Rhodes

History

In pre-Roman times (the 5th century BC), Ávila was inhabited by the Vettones, who called it Obila (Ὀβίλα) ("High Mountain") and built one of their strongest fortresses here. There are Bronze Age stone statues of boars (known as verracio) nearby. Ávila may have been the ancient town known as Abula, mentioned by Ptolemy in his Geographia (II 6, 60) as being located in the Iberian region of Bastetania. Abula is mentioned as one of the first towns in Hispania that was converted to Christianity by Secundus of Abula (San Segundo), however, Abula may alternatively have been the town of Abla. After the conquest by ancient Rome, the town was called Abila or Abela. The plan of the town remains typically Roman; rectangular in shape, with its two main streets (cardo and decumanus) intersecting at a forum in the centre. Roman remains that are embedded in town walls at the eastern and southern entrances (now the Alcazar and Rastro Gates) appear to have been ashlar altar stones. By tradition, in the 1st century, Secundus, having travelled via the Roman province of Hispania Baetica, brought the Gospel to Ávila, and was created its first bishop. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Ávila became a stronghold of the Visigoths. Conquered by the Moors (Arabs) (who called it Ābila, آبلة), it was repeatedly attacked by the northern Iberian Christian kingdoms, becoming a virtually uninhabited no man's land. It was repopulated about 1088 following the definitive reconquest of the area by Raymond of Burgundy, son in law of Alfonso VI of León and Castile. Tradition holds that he employed two foreigners, an Italian, Casandro Romano, and a Frenchman, Florin de Pontuenga, to construct a stone frontier town and creating the walls that still stand. Ávila hosted a Jewish community in the…

Geography

Situated 1132 metres (3714 feet) above sea level on a rocky outcrop on the right bank of the Adaja river, a tributary of the Duero, Ávila is the highest provincial capital in Spain. It is built on the flat summit of a rocky hill, which stands above a brown, arid, treeless table-land, strewn with grey boulders, and surrounded by lofty mountains. Ávila's position results in a warm summer mediterranean climate (Csb, according to the Köppen climate classification) bordering on a cold semi-arid climate (BSk) with warm summers and chilly winters with snowfalls. The hottest month, July, has an average temperature of , and the coldest month, January, has an average of . The average annual precipitation is . Annual rainfall is low compared to surrounding areas, implying that it lies in a rain shadow. The Adaja is dry for several months of the year and the town has historically had water supply problems. Ávila has the coldest winter low temperatures of the Spanish provincial capital cities, thanks to its high altitude ( above sea level).