Gothic pillars and arches with stained glass

Elaborate stone carving that caught my eye

More baroque stone carvings with stained glass everywhere

Charlie in front of what we later learned was a massive candlestick holder. What size candle?

Gothic arches enclose a golden railing with massive GOLD altar behind that

Second altarpiece, the Baroque Transparente. Towering structure with tiers of sculptures.

Oculus with sculptures of angels, saints, clouds of marble and bronze

Sacristy. See why Charlie compares it to the Sistene Chapel?

Note the babies/cherubs holding this thing up!

I described the 5 story tall altarpiece as "something" I didn't realize....

View of Tajo River, valley, old town and cathedral

Synagogue of Santa Maria, built by Muslim workers around 1200, so it looks Moorish

Intricate stone carvings and arches. First a synogogue, then a church, now renovated

Last Day in Toledo

January 7 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 46 °F

We were not really interested in seeing any more cathedrals UNTIL we read about the Toledo Cathedral. Toledo has one of Europe's most magnificent cathedrals, considered a 13th century High Gothic masterpiece. Built over the site of a mosque, it is unusually wide, with 5 naves (they wanted to cover the entire mosque space). After reading this, we thought, "Well, I guess we should go". The descriptions were not wrong.

Charlie marveled that the sacristy ceiling was good competition for the Sistene Chapel. The High Altar is 80 feet tall and made of real gold on wood (27 stone carvers, architects, painters and goldsmiths worked on it for 7 years). There are other unique features, like the Transparente, a 2nd baroque altarpiece behind the gold 5 story one. An oculus (a hole cut into the ceiling) allows the sun to shine a beam of light on the alter during the summer solstice. But it isn't ANY hole. It's a tiny bit decorated. See pics for more info.

After lunch, we caught up on more sites to end our day in Toledo. Tomorrow Madrid.Read more