The Plaza del Mercado Chico is Ávila's main square, the social heart of the walled city and the place where the town hall stands. It is a proper working square — cafés, the covered market building, residents going about their business — and a useful orientation point inside the walls. The architecture is handsome but not showy: the 18th-century town hall with its clock tower is the most prominent building, and the surrounding streets running off the square are typical of the compact, stone-built old town.
In the evening, the square fills up for the paseo — the pre-dinner stroll that is still a genuine daily ritual in Ávila. In summer, the café terraces spill out around the old market building. The square is also where you find the covered mercado, which opens in the mornings and sells local produce including the famous Ávila beef and seasonal vegetables. From here it is a short walk to the main wall gates and all the principal monuments.