Avila city walls, a photo from Avila, Castilla y Leon

Photographer's Note

To my eyes, nearly all Spanish towns manage to have very interesting old parts that seem to not having changed much since the 16th century, at least - stone houses, mazing narrow streets, lots of old churches, sometimes with rough exterior walls, but often with rich interior decorations dating from the 12th to the 18th centuries, palaces, you named it... As amazing as the preserved architecture, it's the life that perspires in nearly every corner, Spaniards seem to spend much more time in the street than they do elsewhere, specially at evening, when everybody seems to come out and those who don't go the the balconies and windows of their homes.

That said, maybe in the context of Spain 羦ila isn't that special, but as its "rivals" also do, it has its own appealing character, even for those less religious who associate the town with its most famous children and long time residents, Saint Teresa of 羦ila and Saint John of the Cross.

However, the city has at least one thing that is obviously unique even for those who don't know about the other unique things of the city (for instance: oldest Gothic cathedral and highest province capital in Spain) and just pass by it: the city walls that surround all the medieval nucleus. In most of the towns that once had great walls, all that remains are just some parts, that more often than not were rebuilt as early as the 18th century, so no matter how impressive or long they are, they don't look "very medieval" because of the shapes of the fortifications changed much with the advent of artillery and its evolution. That didn't happen in 羦ila, where the city walls haven't a single break (the only ways in and out of the old city are the original gates) and the last reconstruction (at least for military reasons) occurred in the 16th century (according to Spanish Wikipedia). Not surprisingly, they are classified by UNESCO as World Heritage Site since 1985. They are said to be the the best kept city walls in Europe and the longest ones in the world after the Great Wall of China.

The walls were built between 1090 and 1099, soon after the conquest of the city from the Muslim rulers that occupied it since the 8th century, apparently using the remains of the older fortifications, namely from Romans and Visigoths times.

This one of the nine gates, I think it's called the Puerta del Puente (gate of the bridge), because there is an old bridge to the left of the POV, but I am not sure.

Link to all my posts of Avila: *.

Location (latitude, longitude): 40.65727,-4.708223

Gerrit, crckt, ahmetgedikli, Didi, siolaw, Bluejeans, feather, lucasgalodoido, gracious, adores, jusninasirun, Docarmo, AiresSantos, edytungkal, danos, riclopes, John_F_Kennedy, robertosalguero, zeca, dareco, Emile, ribeiroantonio, paura, axiotea, xuaxo, ellelloo has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Gerrit (62042) 2008-08-24 10:16

Hi Jose,
good view on the huge city walls. Very impressive. Excellent colors.
Regards, Gerrit

crckt (7222) 2008-08-24 10:16

Hi Jose,
This shot has excellent quality and details. Very good sharpness too.
Well done,
Shaeri

ahmetgedikli (25609) 2008-08-24 10:30

Ola Jose,
Beautiful architecture and scenery. Excellent colors, sharpness and clarity. I like it.
Have a nice evening.
Ahmet

siolaw (38294) 2008-08-25 0:20

Salut Jose,
Excellent PdV permettant de voir une large portion des murailles, et les param鑤res de exposition et nettet� sont bien dos閟.
Joli
Laurent

Bluejeans (64251) 2008-08-25 0:39

Oi Jos� ,
Belo ponto de vis鉶 bem diferente das fotos de turista as muralhas de fundo ficaram magnificas , j� conheci esta cidade alguns anos atr醩 e gostei muito , gostei muito deste primeiro plano com estes muros em escada boa inclus鉶 das pessoas, parab閚s!!
Um abra鏾 Gon鏰lo

P.s. Ando com muitas dificuldades de entrar no TE as minhas cr韙icas andam atrasadas :)

Didi (61589) 2008-08-25 0:46

Bonjour Jos�
C'est ce genre de ciel que j'appr閏ie qui met en valeur les remparts, une bonne luminosit� estivale, en France la m閠閛 n'a pas 閠� formidable cette ann閑 du c魌� d'Orl閍ns.
La perspective est int閞essante mais il serait int閞essant aussi de voir ces remparts de plus pr鑣.
Amiti閟.

feather (51130) 2008-08-25 3:17

From outside, the walls look like a medieval castle and are visibly in good repair. It seems to me a pity that they built all these new walls and walkways. I assume they have a serious purpose but photographically they get in the way of the city walls. You have used them as your lead-in and the image quality is excellent with a glorious blue sky, the like we have forgotten about here in the UK.
Kath

Greg1949 (9011) 2008-08-25 4:29

Jose, the view of all this stone work is very impressive, and like the thought in your note I also think that most places have their interesting parts, old or not; they are all special in their own way. Nice detail on this one, seems like a huge focus range for f-8 but it sure works.

Greg

UnTrained (0) 2008-08-25 4:46

Ol� Jos�,
just finding the beauty in the neighbourhood of Spain? ;-)
A well chosen view with the background blue of the sky and the large walls behind the diagonal stairway. The good clarity and strong light help to emphasize the good texture of the stones and the two are just there for some life.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

lucasgalodoido (27698) 2008-08-25 12:32

Ol� Jos�,
que muralha bonita desse castelo, parece bem cuidada. Gostei das cores e da qualidade de sua foto tamb閙.
Parab閚s e Abra鏾

gracious (20025) 2008-08-25 12:56

Ola Jose,
This is truly a fine piece of architecture well preserved and well maintained todate just like you mentioned in the notes!
I loved the pov very much here with perfect lighting over the place and a good contrast with the blue sky!
good sharpness, nice colour and details all round!
well done and many thanks indeed
take care and sincere regards
Tony

adores (46979) 2008-08-25 17:51

Ol� Jos�!
Uma foto bem diferente do Castelo de 羦ila. As vezes que por l� passei nunca parei mas � um local que quero visitar qualquer dia. As cores e a nitidez est鉶 muito boas. Gosto tamb閙 do c閡 e daqueles dois que v阭 com ar de quem est� em f閞ias:))!!!

jusninasirun (17529) 2008-08-25 18:30

Hello Jos�.. Nice detail of this walls in sharp detail exposure. Well taken perspective against the perfect blue sky with thin white cloud. A postcard perfect image and well done. Jusni

Docarmo (9767) 2008-08-25 19:44

Ol� Jos�,
Nitidez e profundidade impressionantes! O c閡 est� magn韋ico, v�-se que estiveste por l� no bom tempo ;-)
Um abra鏾,
MCV

AiresSantos (56155) 2008-08-25 23:55

Ola Jose
Excelentes cores e definicao nesta bonita foto. Gosto muito do POV e das cores.
Um grande abraco
Aires

edytungkal (4551) 2008-08-26 0:20

A nice composition showing this interesting city walls with perfect blue sky on bg, i think inclusion people on such kind of picture is a good idea and of course we can imagine the scale more easy. Good colours and sharpness, thanks Jose.

rgds
daniel

danos (110407) 2008-08-26 0:30

Ola Jose,
nice this spectacular shot from the 羦ila castle that as i see is found in a very good condition.The pedestrian precinct,create a great depth in the scene with the visitors to add life in it.The sharpness and the clarity are superb.Well done.

Have a nice day,Danos

riclopes (35577) 2008-08-26 0:44

Bom dia Jos�, n鉶 � � toa que Espanha � um dos pa韘es com mais turismo do mundo. Acho que s鉶 precisos anos para o descobrir todo e sempre que vou l� n鉶 me desiludo. Nunca estive em 羦ila, por exemplo. Ser� que andas a fazer um esfor鏾 para incluir pesso韓has ou aqueles dois apareceram completamente por acaso? :)) Parece-me que apanhaste uns dias muito bonitos. A perspectiva do muro � muito boa e gosto especialmente das texturas da pedra aqui mesmo � frente. No fim descobrem-se os 4 torre鮡s e um belo c閡 a rematar. E claro que apoio totalmente a presen鏰 daqueles dois.
um abra鏾,
ricardo

Romatou (0) 2008-08-26 1:04

Salut Jose
Tu as su trouver un angle original et une tr鑣 belle lumi鑢e pour donner une bonne ambiance � cette photo.
Une belle clart� et de jolis contrastes.
Du tr鑣 bon boulot!!
Amicalement
Fran鏾is.

John_F_Kennedy (43797) 2008-08-26 4:03

This lovely fort and walls are very well framed! Your low point of view works well here. Wonderful colours. Well done.
Best wishes,
Achim

sacavem (18620) 2008-08-26 14:21

Jos�, uma boa colec玢o de fotos de 羦ila, dias fant醩ticos para a fotografia com belos c閡s.Este ano estive quase a ir at� este destino mas fiquei s� pela inten玢o.Vejo que � um local bem interessante para conhecer e encher um SDcard :)
Essa 10/20mm tem uma luminosidade muito boa,a textura esta muito boa com toques crom醫icos, o tom de azul no c閡 encaixa bem com as muralhas.
Um abra鏾,
Filipe

delkoo (68) 2008-08-27 5:32

bonjour jos�
pa perspectice du chemin et des murs, nous am鑞e directement vers ces fortifications d'une finesse incroyable, on dirait un d閏ors de cinema pour film moyen鈍eux.

didier

zeca (19762) 2008-08-27 7:24

Ol� Jos�, meu xar�. f/8 lhe deu uma profundidade focal muito boa, com grande qualidade de nitidez em todos os planos. E voc� escolheu um 鈔gulo muito bom, captando o come鏾 da mureta e toda a bela arquitetura como fundo principal. As pessoas fazem parte importante de composi玢o. Belo postal!
Abra鏾,
Zeca

dareco (17136) 2008-08-27 10:41

A very interesting note and picture!! Beautiful colors and detail. Very nice pov. TFS and have a happy day!

colibriav (2208) 2008-08-27 15:49

Hola:
Buen punto de vista para coger las murallas desde la parte del rio Adaja. He pasado muchas veces y nunca me he fijado en esa perspectiva, me gusta, esta equilibrada y con buen colorido.
Un saludo:
Pablo

robertosalguero (292) 2008-08-27 20:13

Ola Jose,

This place seem beautiful and very well care for. Older architecture like this one is not common where I live so I always marveled at its detailed beauty. Good light and sharpness to compose the image. Thanks Jose :-)

Roberto

Emile (20352) 2008-08-28 8:31

Hola Jos�.
Una gran foto de la Ciudad de Avila con sus murallas, nunca hab韆 visto una foto de tan bella ciudad tomada desde tu punto de vista, me gusta mucho, es diferente y la has captado muy bien. La presencia de los dos hombres le da vida a tu magnifica foto. La visite hacen unos a駉s.
Abrazos.

ribeiroantonio (22730) 2008-08-28 15:18

Gosto muito do modo como colocas os torre鮡s l� no cimo contra o c閡 azul. Est� uma perspectiva excelente. E as cores naturais est鉶 muito bonitas.
Ant髇io

axiotea (21651) 2008-08-31 9:04

Ol� Jos�
You made a very good presentation of this architecture with the pathway in FG and stairs on the left side which lead nicely the eye to the city wall. Light is fantastic and gave great colors. The human presence, here, is a good addition!
Abra鏾
Marilyn

xuaxo (6854) 2008-09-06 16:40

Ol� Jos�,
Isto parece demasiado limpinho e certinho para ser t鉶 antigo (estamos habituados a ver monumentos ao abandono em Portuga...).
Seja como for, conseguiste uma excelente foto, com uma forte sensa玢o tridimensional.
Um abra鏾,
F.

ellelloo (6572) 2008-09-16 23:23

Hi Jos�,
A very good shot of these walls. The good POV and composition with the newer constructions are leading the eye to the old walls with a very good perspective effect. Good and natural colours and excellent sharpness. The humans add some life to the shot. Thanks for your interesting and very informative note! Well done!
Greetings, Lasse