Old town of Avila in Spain

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Photo taken on Feb. 16, 2016 shows a gate of the old town of Avila in Spain. The city of Avila is around 100 km to the north-west of Spain's capital city of Madrid. Founded in the 11th century to protect the Spanish territories from the Moors, this 'City of Saints and Stones', the old town of Avila has kept its medieval austerity. This purity of form can still be seen in the Gothic cathedral and the fortifications which, with their 82 semicircular towers and nine gates, are the most complete in Spain. The Old Town of Avila with its Extra-Muros Churches were inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985. (Xinhua/Gong Bing