As I mentioned in my post on September 16, while walking through
Ávila, we discovered a portion of the Camino de Santiago that ran through the city. I had been teaching about St. Teresa as part of my Christian Heritage course and Jana had been teaching books related to pilgrimages, so it made sense that we would combine our classes for a walk along the Camino.
Although we had information about the walk, it really made more sense just to follow either the yellow arrows, painted along the sidewalks, or the shells embedded in the concrete throughout the old city. Our path took us through the city from the south, by the church of St. James, then through the city walls and on the Four Posts.
The Four Posts are a site where four columns were built and were held together by an architrave. The site is said to have been constructed in 1566–perhaps on the location of a small temple during Roman times–and provides a great overlook of the backside of the old city of Ávila.
It is here where a pathway of greater importance begins or ends, depending on your direction of travel. The Path of St Teresa connects Ávila to Alba de Tormes, incorporating locations of Teresa’s birth, death, and where she spent time as a youth. While considered a part of the Camino de Santiago “feeder paths,” if you will, it has standing in its own right due to the connection to the Saint. You can find more information, including maps and where to stay here.
While we would have liked to have travelled this pathway … and perhaps if we return, we will … but we had not planned on taking a 117km walk, so finished our day at the Four Posts.