The walls as a film set

The walls of Ávila have been included on travel maps and in literature, photographs and prints, drawings and paintings and, of course, in the cinema. The monuments and history of the city of Ávila and, in particular, its walls have inspired national and international directors to choose the walls of Ávila as their film set and stage, turning the city of Ávila into a “fantastic destination" and turning the cinema into another channel for showing the world the city's incomparable heritage.

The Pride and the Passion (1957) was the film that helped Hollywood's magnates decide to shoot super-productions in our country such as Solomon and Sheba, Patton, The Fall of the Roman Empire and 55 Days at Peking. When he finished shooting The Pride and the Passion, the director, Stanley Kramer, expressed his satisfaction at having worked with levels of quality and efficiency that were as high as the ones found in Hollywood. The film showed North American producers how good Spain was for exterior shots and how highly skilled the country’s technicians were, not to mention the benefits to be gained from lower costs in terms of salaries, material and services.

With Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra and Sofia Loren at the fore, the best-known production with the walls in the background has been The Pride and the Passion, but there have been many other scenes shot with the walls of Ávila as a backdrop: