Toledo

[amboseli]

During our months stay at the Costa Blanca, we decided to drive to Toledo for 3 days (2 nights). It was a long drive, around 500 km.
On that Wednesday morning we were in the car by 9 in the morning … supposed to arrive around 1:30 – 2:00 pm.

The further we drove north, the more clouds. Thick, black clouds.



So I was talking to my husband … ‘Weather doesn’t look very good. I don’t know if I packed the umbrella. Oh well. You did put the suitcase in the trunk, didn't you’, I said, jokingly. ‘No.’, he said, ‘I thought you did! Realizing then, OMG, WE FORGOT OUR SUITCASE!!

So there we went, all the way back from Valencia to Benissa (1 hr drive), to pick up the suitcase. As a result we only arrived in Toledo at around 4 pm where the sun was shining brightly.

Toledo is one of the oldest cities in Spain. The whole city is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List for its extensive monumental and multi-cultural heritage of Christians, Muslims and Jews. Conquered by the Romans in 192 b.C., and ruled by the Moorish between 712 and 1085. During this period Jews, Christians and Muslims lived peacefully together. In 1085 Toledo was 'liberated' by Alfonso VI, and the city immediately became the symbol of the new, purely Catholic Spanish kingdom. An enormous cathedral was built on the remains of a mosque, several monasteries arose, the al-qasr became the Alcázar, and it was from Toledo, among other things, that the Catholic reign of the Spanish Inquisition was orchestrated. The power and importance of the city started to deteriorate after Philip II had elected Madrid in the 16th century as the new royal capital. Toledo became a historically important, but otherwise somewhat dulled provincial town.

[bixaorellana]

Bouncing in my seat with eagerness to see more, Amboseli! I got to visit Toledo when I was a child, & still remember how beautiful it was & how awed I was when I saw the process of making Toledo wares. Gorgeous pics and I'm glad you had clothes to take them in!

[amboseli]

We got to visit a Damascene ware taller (can you tell I'm taking Spanish classes?). Amazing handicraft! I bought a pair of earrings.

[amboseli]

Catedral Primada de Toledo, one of the most important gothic cathedrals in Spain. Built between 1227 and 1493 on the grounds of the former Moorish mosque, dedicated to Saint Mary. The cathedral is called the magnum opus of the Gothic style in Spain. It has two towers of which the southern one has never been finished. It is huge with many portals outside and side chapels inside.









Puerta de los Leones

[kerouac2]

Great photos. I have not been to Spain enough and yet there it is, next door.

[amboseli]

Inside the cathedral

[bixaorellana]

Just blown away by your pictures, Amboseli! Thanks for showing so much of the cathedral, which is magnificent. That entryway is about as beautiful as anything could be, then the stained glass, the carvings, the soaring ceiling -- and an El Greco!

I can definitely see the relationship between the style in this church and that which was imported to the new world. Of course I'm also thinking Toledo -- yikes. Isn't this the crucible of the Inquisition?

Keep it coming, please!

[lagatta]

Inquisition and persecution of Jews and Muslims, yep. But I was thrilled by the El Greco.

Why on earth is there a Toledo, Ohio? There must be several other Toledos in the Americas...

[kerouac2]

Seeing so many sculptures, I always wonder about the categories of professions in the Middle Ages. Agriculture was probably the most important profession for a long time and yet it wasn't very prestigious. Then there was probably the military and the church. But artisans made the country progress and of course sculptors made up part of that group. But what made somebody a sculptor instead of a blacksmith or baker? I guess it was mostly an inherited profession because it's not as though there were schools to spot the various talents of the children. There were probably a huge number of young people slaving away with a hammer and chisel and making all of these incredible statues while perhaps wishing they could have been a tailor or a fisherman instead.

[amboseli]

Puerta de Alcántara, city gate of Arab origin – 10th century – with view on Puente de Alcántara spanning the Tagus River, and Castillo de San Servando














Evening walk

[mossie]

Quite some place, many thanks for illustrating it for us. Always find it amazing how much detail is packed into the very OTT decoration of the cathedral. The craftsmens time and dedication just beggars belief and I doubt it could be repeated today.

Thank you again

[bixaorellana]

What a wonderful tour this is, Amboseli! You must have enjoyed that evening stroll so much and the daytime shots are dazzling. I can't wait to show this thread to my mother. She'll go crazy over that fabulous picture looking out over the roofs of the city.

[lagatta]

Yes, this is lovely - thank you! I also love your earrings.

Wanted to add was wondering, why on earth Toledo? The first non-Indigenous people there were French - who could very well have been Métis at that point - and I don't know of any historical Spanish ties, even churchy ones.

Hardly like the obvious name choices of places such as Cambridge Mass or Birmingham Alabama, named for the key sectors of their British namesakes; academics and steel/iron work.

It seems to have been almost a random choice. This is not a particularly well-documented site, but there must be more serious ones and I don't feel like researching them right now: listosaur.com/bizarre-stuff/10-american-cities-with-strange-name-origins/

[amboseli]

Toledo is built on a hill, so it goes up and down a lot, and the streets are narrow. Better drive a small car in those streets!











Mezquita Cristo de la Luz, 10th century. Preserved from times before the Reconquista in 1085 by King Alfonso VI. It has a square base with nine small, ribbed domes. Turned into a Christian chapel in the 12th century.













Entering the Jewish quarter





Sinagoga de Santa María la Blanca , early 13th century. It shows blends of Mudejar and Nazarí styles. Noteworthy are its five naves divided by horseshoe arches over lime-painted octagonal columns with unusual Eastern-style honeycombed capitals of outstanding beauty (text from the leaflet).















Monasterio San Juan de Los Reyes, founded by the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand & Isabella in the 15th century.







Puerta del Cambrón in the Jewish quarter, previously called ‘Gate of the Jews’ with two pairs of towers and two arches, built of stone and brick – 16th century

[bixaorellana]

Eeek ~ you all did not try to squeeze through those streets in a car, did you?!

Amboseli, this report keeps getting better and better. I adore that it is so architectural. The old mosque and the synagogue are both fabulously impressive. Are the last two pictures before the street tile saying Jewish Quarter of the mosque?

More! More!

And pee ess ~ forgot to say how much I like your earrings.

[amboseli]

Thank you Bixa. No, we did not squeeze through those streets in a car. Toledo is very walkable.

The last two pictures before the street tile are from the Mezquita Cristo de la Luz.

Last part!

Muséo Sefardo – Sinagoga El Tránsito. The museum is set up in the synagogue. It shows the historical and geographical framework of the Jewish people in antiquity, traditions, beliefs and customs and the history of Jewish people in Spain from their arrival. The synagogue was built in the 14th century. The main room is the Great Prayer Room with a tie-beam roof and profuse plasterwork decoration on the walls. Mudejar motifs in red, green, black and ochre are predominant in the interior decoration.
I’m not a museum person but I found this one very interesting!













The garden-park of the Escuela de Artes y Oficios





By lack of time we didn’t visit the Alcázar, but had a nice view on it from the rooftop terrace of our hotel.

[kerouac2]

Wonderful stone and brickwork on the first buildings and then the fantastic sculpting in the synagogue. Parts of Europe like that are so lucky to have been spared most war damage and to have an excellent climate to help preserve these masterpieces.

[lagatta]

I loved the fact that there were both Hebrew and Arabic script in the synagogue.