Toledo

Toledo is known as a religious capital of Spain and has more than 2,000 years of history – it has seen numerous cultures and dynasties walking through its walls. Originally established by the Romans because if its advantageous geography. It is surrounded on the west and south by a steep gorge, it was further fortified by ancient Roman walls. For centuries, the Romans, Jews, Moors and Christians have lived here and left their mark on the old town. First the Romans in 200BC followed by the Moors and then later the Christians. It has been Spains historical capital since the medieval times when it moved to Madrid in the 16th century. From there it was left forgotten and considered a backwater of Madrid for hundreds of years until the Spanish War in the 20th century. From there residents leveraged the large city walls as their defense. Toledo is famous as a city of three cultures and a world cultural heritage site. It’s one of the oldest and perhaps one of the most unique cities in Spain. Toledo is a UNESCO city, a historical gem of Spanish Andalusia and a real jem of Spain. It’s one of the popular day trips from Madrid – a journey takes only 30 minutes by train.

Dave and I opted to do just that from Madrid and spent a full day in Toldeo along with a guided tour of some of Toledos most famous and historical sights.

Toledo also has the 4th largest Cathedral in the world. So look for those pictures. Our tour guide also told us it is the 2nd most important Catholic city in the world (after the Vatican, I assume). Old Town Toledo was largely developed by the Moors. A hallmark of Moorish cities is narrow winding streets with high buildings so attacking armies would get lost. You had to know the city well to get around. Thankfully we had Google maps, but our GPS had some trouble piecing the streets as well.

Toledo is also known for swords? Apparently Toledo makes many movie swords. Spanish swords were traditionally made with steel which is lighter and Toledo still has the artisans to make them. Toledo supplied props for the LOTR movies and many sword shops boasted souvenirs from the movies.

Interestingly one of the places we visited was a synagogue. It was originally built by the Moors. It was interesting because the Moors didn't seem to know how to make a synagogue, so the interior looks like a Mosque (see pictures) There used to be 12 synagogues in Toledo, but after the inquisition there are only 2 and 4 registered Jewish people left in Toledo.

Our tour guide told us the Cathedral of Toledo is the 4th biggest in the world. Not only is it huge, but it had a very different layout than any other cathedral. Seating seemed quite limited for its size. Rather than posting the hundred to so of pictures we took, I did a video walk through. It took me about six minutes to do a simple loop around the main portion. This didn't include any of the side rooms, but there was still a lot to see. I think this was a top 3 cathedral we've been to.

https://youtu.be/C2bal6MUP4ERead more