The goal of the present study was to evaluate several azolyl-substituted indoles as new antileishmanial agents. Ten 3-(alpha-azolylbenzyl)indoles have been synthesized using Friedel-Crafts acylation as a key-step. All the target compounds were found to display high levels of activity when tested against Leishmania mexicana promastigotes in vitro. The most active compounds, showing an IC50 < 1 microM, were 5-bromo-1-ethyl-3-[(2,4-dichlorophenyl)(1H-imidazol-1-yl)methyl]-1H-indole 15 and its triazole analogue 17. Four representative compounds 15, 17, 22 and, 23 were also tested against intracellular amastigotes of L. mexicana using ketoconazole and meglumine antimoniate as reference compounds, the results of which are discussed.