At the northwest corner of the Plaza de la Catedral is the large palace of the Velada Family, now a restaurant. Opposite the north doorway is the former Bishop's Palace (Palacio Episcopal), now occupied by the Post Office. Another old noble mansion, the Casa de Valderrábanos (15th C.), in the part of the square outside the west front, is now a hotel.

The 16th century Casa de los Deanes - Museo Provincial -, a two-story building, stands to the south of San Vicente. It is now occupied by the Provincial Museum, which displays in three rooms a collection of sacred sculpture from the Romanesque period to the Renaissance, tapestries, a triptych attributed to Hans Memling, pictures, weapons and ceramics.

Within the confines of the wall, medieval corners such as the Plaza de los Dávila intermingle with more than a dozen Renaissance houses of noble lineage, some of the most important are: The Mansion of Velada, the Palace of Valderrábano and the Palace of Núńez Vela. The Casa de Núńez Vela was built in 1540 for Blasco Núńez Vela, first Viceroy of Peru. Today It houses legal offices; the beautiful inner courtyard can be seen during office hours.

Built against the town walls a little way east of the convent, beyond Plaza General Mola, is one of Ávila's many noble mansions, the huge Casa de los Dávila (13th-15th C.). The Palace of Dávila is a severe fortress made up of four houses, the oldest of which dates back to the 13th century. These are only a few of the more than a hundred mansions and palatial residences that existed in Avila between the 16th and 18th century. Avila also has some Museums and exhibitions like the Provincial Museum of Art, the Museum of Oriental Art, The Serrano Palace, and so on.

The surrounding region known as the Tierra de Cantos y de Santos (Land of Songs and Saints) is associated with Spain's great Christian mystics San Juan de la Cruz and Santa Teresa de Jesus.

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