Alba de Tormes

Alba de Tormes stands beside the Tormes southeast of Salamanca, beneath the castle that gave the powerful dukes of Alba their name. The town also became a centre of religious devotion after Teresa of Ávila, the Carmelite reformer and mystic, died here in 1582 and was buried in its convent. During the Peninsular War the French occupied the castle, and in November 1809 a Spanish army was defeated near the town by French forces under Kellermann.