After 2 days of meandering about Madrid, we picked up our rental car and drove about 90 minutes north eastish. The autostrada on this Friday was open and empty and we saw green pastures on our sides and snow capped mountains in front as we whipped along to the medieval walled city of Avila.
We found parking within the city walls and proceeded towards the Cathedral. Construction dates cannot be confirmed, albeit stylistically it is established that it was built on the foundation of an 11th century (1095?) Romanesque church and there is speculation the Maestro architect Fruchel- 12th c. may have worked on it. Additions and changes were made through the 17th century, such that it reflects intense Gothic and Baroque elements also. It was our first Cathedral stop. I loved the dizzying effect wrought on me as I cranked my head to take in the soaring meetup of the ribbed vaults. In Avila, the Romanesque parts of the church are characterized by bricks supposedly made of red limestone, while the transition to the Gothic (12th-14thc) are reflected by unmottled grand blocks of gray and white stone.
The Romanesque bricks, lit by some type of yellow tinted LED?/fluorescent light cast an eery, spiritual glow over the vast open space.
The altarpiece, as so many I saw, I could never distinguish between, was characterized by scenes of sacrifices set amid twisted vines and entangled putti and angels, painted gold or made of bronze, sometimes porcelain apostles, and Marys and saints are woven in. They were beautiful odes to faith in the Church or was it fear of the Church that continue to hurl these testaments to the highest echelons of spirituality.
