If in the opinion of the poet, Erich María Rilke, Toledo is a capital of forgotten empires, Ávila could be said to have been one of the most important hearts, metaphorically speaking, of the Hispanic Celtiberia.

Not in vain, in the icy shade or the suffocating heat of its infinite extensions, those bellicose Celtiberians survived with pride - heroes similar to Obelix and Axterix, by the French cartoonist Uderzo - the Arevaci and the Vettones, who left such illustrious scenes of valor for the history of Spain, in its eternal rebellion against the legions of the almighty Rome.

But they know little or nothing about it, the many visitors who come annually to Ávila, comparable on a smaller scale with Toledo, but knowing, however, that as the old capital of the Visigoths, Ávila is also a wonderful multicultural complex, where History, Art and Tradition provoke in the viewer the same syndrome that other wonderful cities in the world, such as Florence, provoked in the German romantic writer, Stendhal.

Walking through Ávila is like walking through the medieval history of Spain: the walls that once surrounded it are so well preserved that if it weren't for the traffic or the modern cranes that rise above the buildings to erect modern houses that generally detract the historical complex, the visitor would think that he had passed through a portal in time and landed in another time and place.

Because, wherever you go, you always have the solid walls as a reference: in fact, the apse of its cathedral is also part of them and inside, well protected by narrow streets, in some cases, Jewish or Moorish quarters, similar to the de Toledo, a wonderful display of period art and architecture, make up an essential circuit that no one should miss.

Possibly the most relevant buildings -if by relevance, we refer to their monumentality and leaving aside the walls- are the Cathedral of San Salvador and the Basilica of San Vicente, which not only keep surprising artistic treasures inside, but also, They share, in the stone from which they are made, the heart of the quarries in Avila: berroque, a stone that, due to its strong iron content, gives them a genuine appearance, which differentiates them from the rest of the constructions of their time and style.

But when talking about Ávila - narrating in a short post so much history, so much beauty, so many mysteries and so many wonderful things, it is impossible - we cannot forget one of the greatest figures of the Mysticism of the Spanish Golden Age: Saint Teresa of Jesus.

Nor fail to show, that giant white marble statue, which the people of Ávila dedicated, no doubt thinking of those, his famous verses, which possibly summarize what the visitor who comes to Ávila for the first time can feel: 'I live without living in myself and I expect such a high life, that I die because I don't die…'.

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