Ávila Cathedral

Ávila Cathedral, considered the first Gothic cathedral in Spain, was designed as a church and fortress at once: its apse, the cimorro, is built into the wall and is the sturdiest tower on the eastern stretch. It rises on the remains of an earlier church dedicated to the Saviour. In 1172 Alfonso VIII decided to enlarge it and entrusted the work to the French master Fruchel.

How it was built

Fruchel began in a style of transition from Romanesque to Gothic: the cimorro, the ambulatory, which keeps its Romanesque windows, the first section of the transept and the foundations are his. Look at the stone: that first phase uses granito caleño, reddish and mottled; after his death the work continued in Gothic with ashlar of grey granite. The plan is a Latin cross, with three aisles, a transept and a semicircular east end with a double ambulatory, and two towers at the west end, one unfinished and the other topped with battlements. The stained glass was damaged in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and had to be replaced. In the second half of the 15th century, Juan Guas made the new west front and the old Apostles' door was moved to the north wall. It has been a National Monument since 1914.

What to look at inside

The altarpiece of the high altar (1499–1512), by Pedro Berruguete, Santa Cruz and Borgoña. The retrochoir, with Plateresque reliefs of biblical scenes by Juan Rodríguez and Lucas Giraldo, commissioned in 1531. The choir stalls, from 1536 to 1547. In the ambulatory, the tomb of El Tostado, by Vasco de la Zarza, an essential work of the Spanish Renaissance. And the altars of San Segundo, with reliefs by Isidro Villoldo from 1547, and of Santa Catalina, completed in 1529. The cathedral website suggests an audioguide route with 26 stops and has children's audioguides in four languages.

Hours and tickets

It is open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 18:00 and on Sunday from 12:30 to 18:00; the last entry is half an hour before closing and there are no visits during services. General admission costs €10; over-65s, unemployed people and large families, €9; ages 13 to 17 with an adult, youth card holders, university students up to 25 and people with a disability of between 33 and 64%, €7; groups of more than 20, €6. It is free for under-12s, people from Ávila and people with a disability of more than 64%, and for everyone on non-holiday Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 8:30 to 9:30. Tickets are bought on its website, with a QR code. The tower climb, which is paid separately, is suspended because of restoration work. Phone: 920 211 641 and, for the tourist visit, 678 952 984. It is at Plaza de la Catedral, 8.

How to combine it

Allow an hour. The stretch of city wall from the Puerta del Alcázar is the closest, and very near, outside the wall, is the Basilica of San Vicente. To sleep on the same square, the Hotel Palacio de los Velada; to eat nearby, the Hostería Las Cancelas or the Puerta del Alcázar restaurant.