The Church of St. John was originally built on the site of the Headquarters of the Order of St. John around 1200.
In around 1400, the church was completely remodeled in the late gothic style, giving it its current appearance. The west choir loft was added between 1600 and 1628 and the upper floor was extended to form the town’s largest grain store. The Steinmeyer organ dates from 1885 and was restored in 2004.
Another interesting point is that the church underwent several confessional changes over the years. It became Protestant in 1553 as a result of Luther’s reforms. In the Thirty Years’ War the church provided a burial ground for Catholic officers. In 1803, as part of the secularization of Bavaria, it was transferred to the Catholic community as a pastoral center.
References:The city walls of Avila were built in the 11th century to protect the citizens from the Moors. They have been well maintained throughout the centuries and are now a major tourist attraction as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visitors can walk around about half of the length of the walls.
The layout of the city is an even quadrilateral with a perimeter of 2,516 m. Its walls, which consist in part of stones already used in earlier constructions, have an average thickness of 3 m. Access to the city is afforded by nine gates of different periods; twin 20 m high towers, linked by a semi-circular arch, flank the oldest ones, Puerta de San Vicente and Puerta del Alcázar.