Avila

Avila is a city in Spain's Castile and Leon region, at 1,132 meters the highest provincial capital in the country, with 59,107 residents as of January 2025. Founded as the Roman settlement of Abila and resettled by Raymond of Burgundy around 1088, it is enclosed by defensive walls built between the 11th and 14th centuries comprising 88 semicircular towers around roughly 31 hectares, among the best preserved medieval fortifications in Europe; known as the City of Stones and Saints for its association with the mystic Teresa of Avila, its old town and extramural churches were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.