Ávilaאווילה

Castile (Spain)

Ávila, capital of its province in Castile and León, central Spain, is known for its medieval walls, begun in 1090; its old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Jews are recorded there from 1144, and by the late thirteenth century its community was among the largest in Castile, until the expulsion of 1492. The kabbalist Moses de León, who first circulated the Zohar, settled in Ávila and died in 1305 at Arévalo while returning home. The Carmelite reformer Teresa of Ávila was born there in 1515 and founded her first Discalced Carmelite convent, San José, in the city in 1562.

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