If the itinerary has been carried out in the afternoon and, of course, you have or possess the logistics to return to the starting point in good conditions, it is undoubtedly worth finishing the visit by crossing to the other side of the bridge over the Adaja River and, following a short stretch of road, approaching the humilladero of Los Cuatro Postes. The panoramic view of the city is spectacular. And if it coincides with a sunset, it is especially magical to see how the city lights up, with the wall in the foreground, and the sky of Ávila turns from blue to black, in an experience difficult to forget. Seen from here, the cabalistic structure of Ávila, the "Jerusalem of Castile," as the poet Avner Pérez baptized it, or, if you prefer, the "interior castle" of Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada, is something so evident that it hardly needs explanation.
And what do Los Cuatro Postes respond to? Well, two legends, which do not have to be contradictory, have explained their reason for being.
On the one hand, around the year 1157, the inhabitants of the city decided to give thanks for the end of the plague epidemic that had devastated Ávila and its Land by making a pilgrimage to the hermitage of San Leonardo. Everyone wanted to go, since almost everyone had suffered the onslaught of the deadly disease and wanted to express their joy at still being alive. Ávila was left practically deserted, and the Muslims, who were always lurking from their southern positions, took the opportunity to raid it and steal everything of value. Afterwards, they fled with the booty.
Upon learning of what had happened, the regidors Nuño Rabia and Gómez Acedo gathered men to initiate the pursuit of the scoundrels, dividing them into two parties to try to surround the looters. However, the troop that was not under their command retreated to Ávila and shut themselves inside. So, when after punishing the raiders and recovering the looted goods they returned to Ávila, they found the gates of the wall closed and the traitors acting as wardens (alcaides). The latter demanded a share of the seized goods to liberate the city.
Royal intercession was not long in coming, and King Sancho III of Castile himself came to mediate, entering Ávila and throwing the miscreants out of it. He decreed for them that they should always live outside the walls (extramuros), without any privilege. This would have been the origin of the medieval suburbs (arrabales).
The municipal authorities decided that the original pilgrimage should be repeated annually, and the monument of Los Cuatro Postes was built so that these regrettable events would remain in the collective memory.
Another legend tells that it was in this place where the children Teresa of Jesus and her brother Rodrigo were intercepted by their uncle when they were setting off towards the south to evangelize infidels, not caring if they died in their attempt since they would become martyrs. And they were so strongly influenced by reading chivalric romances that they wanted to live an adventure of this nature.
Years later, when Teresa is "dismissed" from the city due to her differences in understanding the expression of religiosity, she stopped her march from the city right there and, looking towards Ávila while taking off her sandals and shaking them, said:
“From Ávila, not even the dust.”
Fortunately, later on, she reconciled with her homeland.
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