Found­ed in the 11th cen­tu­ry to pro­tect the Span­ish ter­ri­to­ries from the Moors, this ‘City of Saints and Stones‘, the birth­place of St Tere­sa and the bur­ial place of the Grand Inquisi­tor Torque­ma­da, 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.