Ávila, Spain
Ávila is a historical city in central Spain located in the Castile and León region, a 60-minute drive northwest of Madrid. The city is most famous for its exceptionally well-preserved medieval city walls, which completely surround the old town. Ávila is also renowned as the birthplace of Saint Teresa of Ávila, a prominent Catholic mystic. Orson Welles once named Ávila as the place in which he would most desire to live, calling it a “strange, tragic place”. Various scenes from his 1965 film Chimes at Midnight were filmed in the town. Ávila has been called the “finest medieval remnant in Spain” and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
