www: Toledo city web
www: Castilla La Mancha tourism
www: Museum of Santa Cruz
www: Casa-Museo de El Greco
www: Art Contemporary Museum
www: Hotels in Toledo
Without any doubt a visit to Toledo is one
of the most highly recommended excursions
to make from Madrid. A fortified hilltop city
surrounded by the Tajo river, Toledo was Spain's
capital city during the rule of the Visigoths,
and also served as the royal residence of
the unified state up to 1560.
Simply
strolling along its narrow streets is one
of the best ways to appreciate Toledo. By
doing so one can capture its mood, as the
city's architecture reflects the many influences
and cultures present throughout its long history.
Toledo once provided a rare example of Christians,
Muslims and Jews living side by side, but
once the moors had been ousted it became a
center of Catholic Spain's intolerance. The
large Jewish population was first forced to
convert to Catholicism and later expelled
outright.
Among the numerous sites worth visiting is
the Cathedral, with its exquisite choir stalls
and musems with paintings by El Greco, Caravaggio
and Bellini among others. Nor should one miss
the Iglesia de Santo Tomé, with El
Greco’s famous and beautiful Burial
of the Count of Orgaz. Also of interest
are the Casa y Museo de El Greco (El Greco's house and museum), the Museo
de Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz museum) and
the the only two remaining synagogues in the
old Jewish quarter, the Sinagoga del Tránsito (Synagogue of the Transit) and the Sinagoga
de Santa María la Blanca (Synagogue
of Mary the White).