20160506Toledo | Spain May 2016

May 6, 2016, Friday — Toledo, Spain

the View of Toledo by resident El Greco c. 1608

Toledo in the 16th century

the Tagus River curling around the city

Toledo, Spain: The spire of the Cathedral is on the right, and the Alcazar is on the left

Panorama from across the Tagus River (June 2014) The spire of the Cathedral is at center left, and the Alcazar is on the right

distant aerial view of the city

Toledo
Toledo is a city and municipality located in central Spain, about 70 kilometers south of Madrid. It is the capital of the province of Toledo, and of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, due to its extensive cultural and monumental heritage as one of the former capitals of the Spanish Empire (it was the capital of Spain until the 16th century) and place of coexistence of Christian, Jewish, and Moorish cultures. At its peak, between the eleventh and 13th centuries, it was known as the “City of Three Cultures” for the harmonious co-existence of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities. Many famous people and artists were born or lived in Toledo, including Garcilaso de la Vega, Alfonso X, and El Greco, and it was the place of important historic events such as the Visigothic Councils of Toledo.

We are off on a very modern Wi-Fi equipped bus to Granada, but first we stopped at Toledo, which is a beautiful city up high and encircled by the Tagus River. On the way we saw many orchards of olive trees. Juan-Jo says that Spain has about 300,000,000 olive trees, and that this area is the largest producer of live oil in the world. It was the Phoenicians that introduced olive trees and grape vineyards to Spain. An olive tree can live to be 2000 years old, but it will produce the best quality oil between 15 and 120 years.

Between the 11th and 13th centuries, Toledo was known as the “City of Three Cultures”. That's because the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities all lived together in harmony. What a pity it didn’t stay that way.

A vista de Toledo:
the city of Toledo as depicted in the Codex Vigilanus in AD 976

the Tagus River curling around the city

The Alcazar in the old city

The Alcazar in the old city

the cathedral spire is on the right

the Tagus River curling around the city

Reconquest of Toledo in 1085 by Alfonso VI

the local flag of Toledo

Mosque of Cristo de la Luz

The Alcantara Bridge, built by the Romans c 190 BCE — Collotype from 1889

We started by using 6 separate escalators to go up the cliff to the old town. We then took a walking tour of Toledo by going through the Cambrón Gate, which was the BAB al-YAHUD – (Gate of the Jews), documented as the entrance to the Jewish Quarter.

The Cambrón Gate has been identified as the BAB al-YAHUD (Gate of the Jews), documented as the entrance to the Jewish Quarter

door

May 6, 2016, Friday — Synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca

statue of Don Quixote de la Mancha

There we entered the Santa Maria la Blanca Synagogue. Its stylistic and cultural classification is unique as it was constructed under the Christian Kingdom of Castile by Islamic architects for Jewish use. It is considered a symbol of the cooperation that existed among the three cultures that populated the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. The building ceased to be a synagogue in the year 1411, it was converted for use as a monastery, and later as an armory and warehouse. The building was eventually declared a national memorial site and restored in 1856, but there were numerous changes and evolutions which the building went through during this period. The building was, at first used for prayer services, many believe, by recent converts from Judaism to Catholicism. In 1550 the building and its courtyard became the property of an order of monks who sought to purify the building of its Jewish past. They named the building Santa Maria La Blanca, meaning St. Mary the White, in an effort to drive out the perceived "darkness" of the building's Jewish past. Eventually, the monastery abandoned the building, perhaps because the northern wall fell down and that was seen as a bad omen. The building was then used as a warehouse and armory for a company which manufactures bullfight swords to this day. In 2013, a request was made to the Catholic Church for the return of the building to the Jewish community.

door

Synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca

Synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca detail

ceiling

Synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca detail

Synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca

ceiling

floor tile detail

May 6, 2016, Friday — Toledo Cathedral

After visiting the Jewish section, we went to the Toledo Cathedral, a stunning building which has many beautiful paintings inside, including many by Domenikos Theotokopoulos (otherwise known as El Greco). The Cathedral started as a fine Mosque. The city of Toledo was reconquered by Alfonso VI, King of León and Castile, in 1085. One of the points of the Muslim capitulation that made possible the transfer of the city without bloodshed was the king's promise to conserve and respect their institutions of higher learning, as well as the customs and religion of the Muslim population which had coexisted with the larger Mozarabic population. Naturally, the preservation of the main mosque was integral to this compromise. Shortly thereafter, the king had to depart on matters of state, leaving the city in charge of his wife Constance and the abbot of the monastery of Sahagún, Bernard of Sedirac (or Bernard of Cluny), who had been elevated to the rank of archbishop of Toledo. These two, in mutual accord and taking advantage of the absence of the king, undertook an unfortunate action which, as told by the priest Mariana in his General History of Spain, almost provoked a Muslim uprising and consequent ruin of the recently conquered city.

On 25 October 1087, the archbishop in cooperation with Queen Constance sent an armed contingent to seize the mosque by force. They proceeded to install a provisional altar and hung a bell in the minaret, following Christian custom to 'cast out the filthiness of the law of Mohammed'. The priest Mariana writes that king Alfonso VI was so irritated by these events that neither the archbishop nor the queen were able to prevent him from ordering the execution of all the active participants. Legend tells that the local Muslim populace itself helped restore peace, with its chief negotiator, Faqih Abu Walid, requesting the king to show mercy, and imploring his fellow townsmen to accept the Christian usurpation as legitimate. In gratitude for this gesture, the Cathedral Chapter dedicated a homage to Walid and ordered his effigy to be placed on one of the pillars in the main chapel, in this way perpetuating his memory. Thus the conversion of the Toledan mosque was upheld and it remained consecrated as a Christian cathedral.

rose window

wall with the organ

The retable (altarpiece) of the Cathedral is an extremely florid Gothic altarpiece; it is one of the last examples of this artistic style, which was disappearing as the Renaissance began to take hold in Spain. Commissioned by Cardinal Cisneros, the work was begun in 1497 and finished in 1504. It is hand-carved in wood and depicts paintings that told the Bible stories to the illiterate people of that time that couldn't read.

ceiling

'The Disrobing of Christ', by Spanish Renaissance painter El Greco

Jewish inscription in the Toledo Cathedral

St. Francis and Brother Leo (or Brother Rufus) Meditating on Death by El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos)

St. Luke by El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) 1605-1610

Apostle St. Peter in Penitence by El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) c 1605

Apostle St. Peter by El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos)
1610-1614

Apostle St. Andrew by El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos)
1610-1614

this is the only remaining portion of the altar of gilded wood designed by El Greco for the painting "The Disrobing of Christ"

In 2012 they discovered a portion of a massive picture frame designed and hand-built by El Greco over a period of two years. Most of the ornate picture frame was burned, but this small piece was saved.

El Transparente of the Cathedral

Ed Barrett and our local guide walk past the Portal of the Lions

our local Toledo Cathedral guide

Portal of the Lions, Toledo Cathedral

Toledo is bedecked with flags for the Saints Day celebration

Toledo had an exhibition of instruments of torture, which I am happy to say that we missed

craftsman hammering gold threads into a filigree

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Leaving the Cathedral we went through streets decorated with flags for Toledo’s saint’s day to a shop that specializes in filigree and metal inlay work where we watched an artisan at work and where Martha bought earrings for Linda, Mia, and Anika.

4 stages of making a filigree design

souvenirs of Toledo including Toledo steel swords

May 6, 2016, Friday — on the road from Toledo to Puerto Lápices, Spain

flowers

Roman ruins?

May 6, 2016, Friday — at a rest stop and Don Quixote museum in Puerto Lápices, Spain

We then drove on to Puerto Lapizes, which has a rest stop that has a Don Quixote de la Mancha museum. We all agreed that both Arthur and George Yule looked like Don Quixote.

Arthur Luehrmann in the courtyard

other old artifacts in the courtyard

Gail Barbano in the courtyard

statue of Don Quixote de la Mancha

Don Quixote and his look-alike, Arthur Luehrmann

old print of Don Quixote

old cart

At the next rest stop Juan-Jo treated us to a cheese discovery. He gave us samples of young Manchego cheese (aged ~3 months) and older Manchego cheese (aged 6 months).

delicious Manchego cheese for which the area is famous
on the left is aged Manchego, with fresh Manchego on the right

Finally, we drove on to the Hotel Carmen in Granada, where we will stay for a few days.

on the way from Puerto Lápices to Granada

Start of Trip

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