Spain Trip report, Day 3: Toledo

Nov 23, Monday, 2015, 10°C to 2°C in Madrid:
 

Day trip to Toledo:

At planning stage we had to decide about scheduling our 2 day trips (Segovia and Toledo) on Sunday or Monday. We had wanted to visit the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso from Segovia –it is closed on Mondays, so we scheduled Segovia for Sunday. However, bus frequency was low just once every 2 hours when we enquired at the bus counter after finishing our sights in Segovia. It was becoming dark and we did not want to be stuck at the palace late. So we had to reluctantly abandon our visit there.  

In Toledo, Museo de el Greco and the El Transito Synagogue and Sephardic Museum, and the building housing the Visigoth displays are all closed on Monday. But Mondays are definitely better for the cathedral because on Sundays public visits open only in afternoon. So we scheduled Toledo for Monday and regretfully missed out on Museo de el Greco!

Toledo: 

Toledo is 74 km south of Madrid.

Toledo is the city of three cultures because Christians, Muslims and Jews lived together there for centuries.

Maestro painter El Greco lived here and the house he lived in is a museum now (The famous master of Spanish painting, Doménikos Theotokópoulos was born in Crete (Greece's largest island) in 1541, and in 1577 came to Spain where he was called El Greco ("The Greek").

Quite a cool way to avoid the tongue twister original name, ha?).

A bit of history here…Toledo was founded as the Roman city Toletum in 192 B.C.

In 411 it was conquered by the barbarian Alanos and in 418 by the Visigoths. The Visigoths made Toledo their capital in Spain.

The Arabs arrived in 711 and the period that followed was one of tolerance between the Arabs, the Jews, and the Christians, which produced and enriched culture.

In the 11th century Toledo became a Taifa kingdom, but in 1085 King Alfonso VI conquered the city. After King Felipe II decided to make Madrid the capital in 1563, the city suffered a very slow and lengthy decline.

 In 1983 Toledo was named the capital of Castilla-La Mancha, so it has again become important politically and economically, as well as culturally. Toledo was named by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1986.

Bus vs Train:

Bus from Madrid to Toledo takes one hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes, while the high speed train takes only 30 minutes. We had opted for train and booked tickets online in advance to avail low prices. We took the metro to reach Atocha station … by mistake got down at the previous station Atocha, then took the metro again to reach Atocha Renfe. From the metro map in the previous post, you can see we took the yellow lone and transferred at Sol to the blue line. There are 2 Atocha stations we got down at the first before realising our mistake and then going onward to Atocha Renfe

There is airport like security, so we were there early. After the security, we waited in the lounge till platform number was posted. 

Then we boarded the train

The Toledo train station is on the plain. The city of Toledo is up a steep hill. From the Toledo train station, it is best to take a taxi for train station €4,50 to the Cathedral or Plaza de Zocodover, the square in the center of town.

(There are buses also departing from near the front of the train station to Plaza de Zocodover (walk out of the station up to the street on the right side). The numbers of the buses that go to the Plaza de Zocodover are 5, 5D, 51, 61, and 62. The price is €1.40 and one has to pay the driver, change is given.)

Toledo attractions:

Here's a map of Toledo attractions...

Train station at Toledo looks like a Moorish palace and has many Mudejar details, such as beautiful ceramic tile and plaster moldings. 

There is a lot of brick, plaster, ceramics, iron, and wood. The building has a clock tower that looks like the church towers of Toledo. 

We took the taxi to Plaza de Zocodover.

The benches have the famous tile work and the theme here is Don Quixote… it had been an amusing read while at school but when read now the deeper dimensions are visible!

This is the zocotren which chugs along attractions for a tour of 30 minutes. It was too early for it to start plying.

We walked the lovely narrow lanes...

We went to the Portal of the clock of the cathedral. 

We entered and there was a mass going on at the chapel there. The other parts are cordoned off and we have to buy the ticket and enter through the main portals at 10. We decided to walk to Puerta de Bisagra and come back here when the cathedral was open for visitors.

Had a nice walk enjoying the views of river Tajo circling the city.

 

Puerta de Bisagra

Bisagra Gate, a ninth-century entrance gate is the only remaining part of the Moorish town walls. Its name comes from the Arabic word Bab-Shagra, which means "Door of the Sacred".

Typical of Muslim architecture, the gate features horseshoe arches; a central arch is the entrance and two blind pointed arches are for decoration. This monument is also known as the Puerta Vieja de Alfonso VI because the king made his entrance to Toledo in 1085 through this gate.

 It is composed of two bodies, between which there is a square. The exterior body has a stone triumphal arch that is crowned with the huge imperial coat of arms of the city, having a two-headed eagle. The arch is flanked by two large stone semicircular towers that show the figures of the seated monarchs.

The interior body has a rounded arch flanked by square towers that are crowned with ceramic steeples.

We walked back enjoying the ceramic mosaic and metal craft displayed in shop windows.

Walking in Toledo involves steep inclines as the city is on a hill! We reached the cathedral.

This is the townhall in the same square...

We knew there will be a queue for climbing the Giralda (Bell tower), so bought the tickets and went up 207 steps in the 1^st batch. A security guard climbs with us…must be great exercise to do it multiple times with several groups!

The view was limited to the Ayuntamiento, the town hall and the square... so if you are low on time or energy, OK to skip this climb! We loved climbing the old, narrow and (in places) spiral steps... it was like travel back in time!

There are 12 bells with the largest in Spain… 7 tons.

We then went into the magnificent cathedral.

Cathedral of Toledo:

The Cathedral of Toledo is one of Spain’s finest cathedrals and was built on top of a Moorish mosque. Construction took place between 1227 and 1493. The interior of the church is 110m long.

The Capilla Mayor (main chapel) has a colossal altarpiece in the late gothic style and was made of wood that was decorated with gold leaf and also polychromed. There are four levels for the panels that represent scenes from the New Testament.

Behind the Capilla Mayor is the Transparente, a huge marble altar dedicated to the Virgin, and topped by a painted dome. 

An opening in the vault allows a ray of light in, suggesting a view into the open heavens, represented by hosts of angels and saints flooded in heavenly light.  

“El Transparente” has a mixture of stucco, painting, bronze elements, and marble, that goes to the roof, where a hole in the roof shines light over the whole masterpiece. It integrated architecture, painting and sculpture to achieve dramatic effects in light. This is a total work of art and one of the most spectacular structures of the Baroque in Spain.

 It is a type of camarin, a separate and slightly raised but open structure behind the main altar. A two story altarpiece holds a sculptural group of the Virgin and Child in the center of the lower section. Above it are scenes of the Last Supper and the Eucharist.  

There are more than 750 stained glass windows from the 14th to the 16th centuries,

The Cathedral is also famous for the wooden choir, carved by famous artists. The choir is located in the center of the main nave.

 The choir has many beautifully carved chairs. The inner chairs have the gothic style and show reliefs of the conquest of Granada by the Catholic Kings. The outer chairs have the Renaissance style. Above the choir are two organs.

There is also a treasury, where one can see gold and silver treasures, studded with jewels, that are used in the Masses.

The treasury is located in the chapel below the tower. There is a magnificent Monstrance but it is under renovation and we could not see it.

Another room contains paintings by Goya, Van Dyck, Zurbaran, Titian, Rubens, Bassano, Morales, Caravaggio, and 16 paintings of figures of the Apostles by El Greco.

This is El Greco's Disrobing of Christ...

This is Caravaggio...

Altogether an awesome experience!

We walked to the Alcazar...

Alcázar de Toledo:

The Alcazar is a big stone fort and palace on the highest point of Toledo. 

The site used to have a Roman palace in the 3rd century. The emperor Carlos V ordered the building of the Alcazar, to be used as his royal residence. The palace was never lived in by the Spanish kings because before it was finished, Madrid became the capital of the country. It became famous during the Spanish Civil War when the Republicans laid siege to it for 70 days in 1936 and it was almost completely destroyed. The palace was reconstructed in 1940. A monument to the defenders of the Alcazar was created; it became the home of the National Army Museum. 

It has great weaponry

and lovely miniatures...

this one has 3300 gold plated silver figures!

Museum of Santa Cruz:

Museum of Santa Cruz was our last stop. There was an Africa craft exhibition.

We enjoyed the luminous El Greco paintings, terrific antiques including a solid silver armored Carlos V.

We had loved walking through the narrow historic calles and all the sites we had visited. 

Nice to have a selfie with Cervantes, author of Don Quixote...

We had missed out on several other attractions due to paucity of time. We returned to Madrid on train.

We were moving on to Granada the next day. 

http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/07/spain-trip-report-days-4-and-5-granada.html
covers the report on our visit to the cathedral and the awesome Alhambra in Granada

Our Videos:

https://picasaweb.google.com/108910506663540711253/6272982759068429265#6282485140199953522

 has our video on Madrid and Segovia and Toledo... Toledo part is the last 5 minutes