Following the trace of Santa Teresa de Jesús you can visit some of the most important monuments in the city. They are called “Places relating to Santa Teresa”.
MONASTERY OF LA ENCARNACIÓN
There is no doubt that, together with the Monastery of St José, this is one of the most emblematic places relating to St Teresa to be found in Avila. It was inaugurated on the 4th April 1515, the same day that St Teresa was baptised. St Teresa took her vows here and went on to be prioress for three years. It was from this monastery that she planned the entire reform and many episodes of her mystic life took place within these walls. The other great mystic of Avila, Juan de Yepes (St Juan de la Cruz) spent five years at La Encarnación as a confessor.
MONASTERY OF SAN JOSÉ
This is the first foundation of St Teresa established according to the rules of her Carmelite reform, maintaining austerity and discretion as a symbol of the house. It comprised a series of buildings which were gradually grouped together and joined to form an architectural complex which even today conserves a small church which was replaced in 1608 by the current one.
THE CHURCH OF SANTA TERESA
The church of Santa Teresa was built in a place where the Saint’s house was years ago. The building was built in 1630 and inside there are five marvellous woodcarvings made by Gregorio Fernández..
FOUR POSTS
On the city outskirts, on the road from Ávila to Salamanca, there is a place called Los Cuatro Postes (the four posts). It is an excellent vantage point for obtaining one of the best views across Avila. Miguel Delibes includes it on several occasions in his work “La sombre del ciprés es alargada” (the shadow of the cypress is extended).
According to legend, here Don Pedro found his nephew and niece Teresa de Cepeda (Teresa de Jesús) and her brother Rodrigo when, as children, they fled the lands occupied by the moors in search of martyrdom.
