Ávila Cathedral

The oldest Spanish Gothic cathedral.

Construction was originally begun in the Romanesque style, but the project was subsequently taken over by the master architect Fruchel, who built one of the first Gothic cathedrals in Spain.

The cathedral sanctuary is integrated into the city wall, which formed part of the city’s defensive fortifications. It has two doors: the main door, flanked by two towers –one unfinished– which give it an appearance of a church-fortification, and the door of the Apostles at one side. It is laid out in the shape of a Latin cross. The choir and the cloister were added later in the 16th century. The main chapel has a magnificent altarpiece by Vasco de la Zarza and paintings by Berruguete and Juan de Borgoña. The stained-glass windows date from the 15th century. The ambulatory contains the culminating work of Vasco de la Zarza, the sepulchre of El Tostado, in alabaster.