Holy Toledo!

We spent 2 days in Spain's historic capital of Toledo. It is a beautiful city, the whole of it is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is full of churches that used to be Mosques, churches that used to be Synagogues, and churches that were always churches but built on top of Roman temples.

View from the rooftop terrace of Hostal Casa de Cisneros, a fantastic B&B in Toledo

Toledo had this brief span of time in which Jewish, Muslim, and Christian lived along side each other. They shared and translated books and records long preserved by the Moors, and the Arabic number system, which then disseminated to the rest of Europe. This is the origin of the Renaissance, it all started right here in Toledo.

Then Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492 pushed the Moors off the continent, and then for good measure expelled the Jews and forcibly converted anyone who stayed. That ended the little golden era of tolerance in Toledo. The story goes that this is the era where jamon--cured ham that is incredibly delicious--entered the culinary scene. It became popular to eat foods that would prove you weren't Jewish or Muslim as a way to keep the Inquisition away. Yikes.

Even the train station is beautifully built to match the historic nature of the city.

Seriously, what train station looks like this on the inside??

A couple generations later the king of Spain moved his capital from the tight, but defensible, quarters of Toledo to Madrid where he could build a huge palace and modern capital. Toledo remained an unchanged back water for hundreds of years. Now it is a haven for tourists and historians.

We stayed in a beautiful little bed and breakfast right next to the Catedral Primada, probably the biggest grandest gothic cathedral in the world.

View of the Cathedral from our rooftop terrace. Did I mention that this place is great?

The front of Catedral Primada, half of it covered in scaffolding.

Of course that was our first stop in the morning. The tower was all wrapped in scaffolding, the great old monuments have to be maintained after all. What we could see of it was beautiful, and the interior more than makes up for the lack of tower.

I mentioned that I like ceilings, right?

Did I also mention my love of stained glass?

This fancy thang comes out on feast days for processions.

This mural is just so big.

The cathedral also has a museum, full of art. They have a substantial number of El Greco paintings, which makes sense "The Greek" as they called him spent much of his professional life in Toledo. His style is so distinctive, it is easy to pick out his work in a gallery. In the photo below, all 5 paintings are El Greco's.

His most famous piece is in a different church in Toledo. No photos allowed. Of course. We continue our exploration of Toledo at San Iglesia de San Roman, a church in the mudejar style, that now houses a small collection of Visigoth artifacts.

Can you tell this little chapel was altered dramatically, much later than the rest of the building?

Monasterio San Juan de los Reyes, our next stop! It was meant to be the burial place for Ferdinand and Isabella, then their armies conquered Granada and they decided they'd like to be buried there instead.

And the beautiful San Martin bridge...

And then two synagogues, built by Moorish architects, that were converted to Christian churches. First Sinagoga Santa Maria del Blanco. This place is ridiculously photogenic for being such a small, simple space. The lighting, and the "blanco" walls and pillars. It's just very pretty in pictures.

Next up is Sinagoga del Transito! This one contains a small museum of Judaism and very ornate wall carvings, what is left of them.

Then the church of Santo Tome, home to the aforementioned El Greco painting that is fantastic, was our next stop. You can take pictures of the chapel, which is kind of meh, but not the painting. Seriously? It's the only interesting part of the church! Well, that and this pillar:

Besides all the beautiful things we visited, we ate some really beautiful food. May I recommend to any human person who might find themselves in Toledo: eat at El Trebol. Their tapas are spectacular! I wanted to find some damascene jewelry, but good quality, not cheap made in China nonsense. Well, we found Simon Artesana, one of the few places that still hand make everything. We spent nearly an hour learning about the process, being shown jewelry, and getting everything meticulously boxed up. Lee took a nap outside. Some people just don't appreciate really long shopping excursions!

We visited the various gates and walls and fortifications...

...and finally Mezquita Cristo de la Luz. Once a Mosque, then a church, this was simple and small, but on a really beautiful spot.

And, perhaps my favorite activity of the day, buying cookies and marzipan from nuns. There are several convents in Toledo, and other parts of Spain, that make and sell traditional goodies as a way to support themselves. We stopped at Convento Gaytanas. You ring the bell, say something like "dulces, por favor!" and they'll let you in. This one had a little display of what they sell and the price (we picked an assortment of marzipan and almond cookies). The nun is on the other side of a barred window. You tell her what you want, she goes and gets it, and brings it to you. she opens the bars, passes you your goodies and you pass her your money. Easy peasy, very little Spanish language skill required, and SOO delicious.

Again, the view from our hotel was STELLAR!

Speaking of great views, the next morning we visited the church of Iglesia de los Jesuitas. They let you climb their bell tower. From up there you can see how compact Toledo is. The twisty streets and hills make it feel a bit bigger when you're walking, getting lost, and going back up the hill...

Our last stop was the hilltop fortress, the Alcazar. It was quite recently turned into a military museum.

The remnants of the original structure are still preserved, it was almost entirely destroyed in the Spanish Civil War.

The largest cannon in an extensive connection.

We went back to our hotel for our bags, and noticed that their cellar is a restaurant. The food was just fine, but the setting was pretty top notch!

This is the floor of the breakfast room, and the ceiling of the restaurant.

And then we left Toledo and headed back to Madrid! You've already read all about that, or can if you want to, after Madrid we head to Barcelona by train for more adventures!