Ávila resembles a quintessential medieval town. With its defensive walls and towers still intact, Ávila presents the traveller with an amazing image of a bygone era. It is believed that the site was first settled by an Iberian tribe. This tribe subsequently fell under the sway of imperial Rome, the Visigoths, the Muslim caliphates, and finally the Christian monarchs. After the collapse of the Muslim power base at Toledo in the 11th century, Ávila became a knightly city of noble families. The city is also famous for its own early Gothic cathedral. Interestingly, it constructed in a somewhat bastion-like manner. Planned as a cathedral-fortress, its granite apse solidly interlocked within the fabric of the defensive walls which still encircle the town.