Points of interest in Bonilla de la Sierra

Piedrahita Gate or Puerta de la Villa Gate

The wall enveloped the entire perimeter of the town (1.1 km long, enclosing an area of 7.8 hectares). It had 4 gates, Piedrahíta, Villafranca, Ávila and El Mirón, where the roads leading to the respective towns were born. Only the entrance of Piedrahíta is preserved, formed by a double pointed arch, between which there is a space in which the doors must have rotated. On the outside and over the pointed arch, the coat of arms of D. Sancho Blázquez Dávila (1312-1355), one of the best known bishops of the Middle Ages in Avila, was embedded. Having disappeared some time ago, it would imply that the wall would have been built in the first half of the 14th century.

Plaza de la villa

Quadrangular square in the center of which is the collegiate church of San Martín de Tours. In its northern zone we can observe the houses of the Council, oven, and jail of the town, as well as the cilla or granary. To the east are the houses of the Mesones and Valdivieso families. To the South-East the castle of the bishops, lords of the town. There was also the roll of justice, which today is preserved dismantled and scattered throughout the town.

Collegiate Church of San Martín de Tours

The collegiate church of San Martín is a Catholic church located in the Spanish town of Bonilla de la Sierra, in the province of Ávila, in the autonomous community of Castilla y León. It was declared a national historic-artistic monument -the antecedent of the figure of cultural interest- on June 3, 1931. The building, begun in the first half of the 15th century, is Gothic in style. It has a single large nave divided into five sections by pointed arches. The tower, from the 16th century, has a square floor plan. The building was restored between 1974 and 1980. The main chapel is an addition to the primitive construction, but its construction must have taken place shortly after, and, perhaps, directed by the same architect, and that would explain its perfect assembly to the rest of the set. The vault that covers it is of terceletes, with semicircular arches, and is illuminated on its sides by two ample and round windows that do not clash with the whole. On the cornices there are modillions and finials with 17th century fenecings, as is the case with the sacristy, which is evidence of a later renovation. In this main chapel is installed a baroque altarpiece that covers the whole front, from the altar to the plementería, which is dated in the year 1688. But the most valuable of the set are its ten painted tables, in which different significant events of the life of the patron saint of the temple, San Martin de Tours, are narrated. There are many who attribute these paintings to the school of the so-called Master of Avila, but they do not agree as to who was their executor; some attribute them to Samson Florentino, others to Juan and Marcos Pinilla, and others say they are the work of Pedro de Salamanca, belonging to the Flemish school of Avila. Great similarity is found between the paintings of the Bonilla altarpiece, and those that on San Marcial, appear in the antechristy of the cathedral of Avila, as well as in others, that the referred master left painted in the church of Barco de Avila and in San Miguel de Serrezuela.

Castle of the Bishops of Avila

The castle of Bonilla was originally owned by the Bishop of Avila, Lord of Bonilla de la Sierra.

Santa Barbara Well

The Well of Santa Barbara was probably built between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, in order to supply water to the population. It has two openings. The most original, on one side, with stairs covered by eight semicircular vaults. By the stairs, of which it is said that there are as many as phrases has the creed, you can reach the water. The other opening, as a curbstone, stored rainwater.

Concejo or Pajarejos Fountain

Fountain on the right side of the road to Pajarejos. Built in granite masonry and crowned with the coat of arms of the town of Bonilla.

Chuy Bridge

Romanesque Bridge, crosses the river Corneja, which gives its name to the Valley. Protected by Law 16/1985, of June 25, 1985, of the Spanish Historical Heritage (BOE no. 155, of June 29, 1985).

Piedrahita Pylon

Open-air public washhouses, protected from the wind because they are located at a height below the surrounding surface, retaining the ground by means of an ashlar wall. In a granite boat, arranged vertically, opens the spout that feeds the rectangular washhouse. It is made from long pieces of granite carved in the manner of ashlar. The side pieces appear beveled on the inside face, so that the wooden washstand could be easily coupled to the stone elements, which are flush with the ground. The surrounding surface is tiled to prevent mudding. Washing clothes was a tough job. Long in duration and use of time, and hard because of the physical effort required and the temperature conditions of the water in the long winter months. winter months. At a time when running water in the houses was unknown, the washing place was an essential center in the locality, an exclusive place for women, where they met, chatted, exchanged opinions, and had fun, chatted, exchanged opinions, ... where they were free from the presence of men.

Villafranca Pylon

La Mirona Fountain

Altar Rupestre el Canto del Mortero (Mortar Song)

A kilometer and a half from the village, in an area known as "El Mortero", we can find a rock altar, on a hill overlooking the Corneja Valley. This altar, in which rituals could have been carried out and worshipped the sun and the moon, could date from the period between the end of the Neolithic and the Ancient/Middle Bronze Age. Declared an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC), the rock altar of Canto del Mortero is located very close to the convent of San Matías, which was inhabited by the Barefoot Franciscan Friars Minor in the 16th century, and of which there are hardly any remains, Carved into the rock, 15 shallow steps lead to the top. A top where you can see a cup and channels. At about 110 meters there is another rock that could also have been sacred.