The Romanesque Santo Domingo Church was built in the late 12th century above a pre-existing church dedicated to San Tomé, although it was partially renovated in the following centuries, including the century transept and choir area, added in the 16th century when a Dominican convent was founded annexed to the church.
It has a façade with two orders of arcades at the sides of the portal, which is surmounted by a rose window. The portal has an elaborated archivolt with Biblical characters and scenes, including the 24 elders of the Apocalypse, the Massacre of the Innocents, the Youth, the Passion and the death of Christ. The tympanum has representations of the God the father sitting with the Child, four angels with the symbols of the Evangelists, the prophet Isaiah and the Virgin Mary. The capitals on the jambs of the entry feature biblical scenes from the Genesis and the life of Christ.
The interior is on the Latin cross plan with a nave and two aisles, covered by barrel vaults.
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.