Toledo is a town on a hill, with beautiful series of alleyways, corridors, overhangs, and general history and brilliance in their streets. Its a very small city - today only about 80,000 permanent residents, most of which live outside the hilly center district, but on weekends, where tons of people (like me) take the 35-minute hop from Madrid and make a weekend or day of it, the city seems a lot more vibrant. The old district is lovely - yes in a way that is so reminiscent of so many other Europeans cities with their narrow alleys and passages, but here you get that with teh added bonus of great tapas bars, marzipan shops (the local delicacy) and scores and scores of shops selling swords. See, Toledo has a background in iron and steel work and sword-making. Today, roughly 90% of the shops are selling mass produced tourist fare, but there remains a few generational spots being more inventive. Needless to say I did get one, albeit small that was actually named a letter opener (it is still quite sharp however).
Anyway, to the sights, of which Toledo has many all tucked in this city center that is probably a 25-minute walk from one corner to the other. Overtime, I got the hang of which routes would miminize inclines. The middle of the middle is the highest part, with teh exception of the land around the Alcazar (fortress - no surprise they put that in the highest spot). My AirBNB was right in the heart of everything, aboute a 5-10 minute walk to most places. The sights as mentioned are numerous, but most are also fairly quick to take in. Helps when three are churches, or four if you count a monastery as well.
The first stop was the Church of St Thomas, which while the church was reasonably nice, the real star of the show is a large painting in the knave by El Greco. That name rings loud in Toledo - a son of the place, Greco's works are scattered around, but this is probably the most impressive showcase, a giant painting featuring the funeral of some martyr or some-such (oddly, not Saint Thomas). It is haunting, in very much an El Greco way (as I would soon come to learn moreso). It was a quick stop, but a breathtaking one. The next was the St. James Monestary, which takes up much of let's call it the Northwest corner of the old town. It isn't too big, but quite intricate woodwork, paintings, carvings, and some haunting rooms. The main church in teh complex has some of the most detailed stone-work I've seen in a baroque era building. Here, the church is the star of the show, and makes its mark.
The final two religious bits I saved for Sunday, first being the Church of the Jesuits. If there was any less than stop, it probably was this, but part of that is large scale renovations to its face and bell tower which took away some of the beauty. The inside was lovely, with some really well made side altars (and main altar) but it was a comedown from the Monastery and the site to come - the grand daddy of Toledo - the main Cathedral Primada de Toledo, which was magnificent - right there with the great Cathedrals of Europe, seriously. The intricate carving everywhere, the stunning gold altars, the audacious gold monstrance, the supremely gothic main altar and choir area (oddly placed in the middle of the church). Then you go to the real stars - the sacristy in the back is basically a mini art museum - housing numerouse Greco's (the famous series of apostles paintings), and a ceiling that while smaller than the sistine chapel, is similar in regality. Oh, and then they've added a real art museum.
The cathedral turns 800 this year, and to celebrate that they converted half the church into a makeshift museum. It requires a separate ticket, but very much is literally an art museum in this church. It was hard to discern if all the pieces you see are tied to Toledo, nevertheless tied to the cathedral, but doesn't matter. It was stellar. It makes it pretty clear this cathedral is no more as a practicing church, but it was still a truly special spot.
There were a few non-religious sights as well (lest we think Europe is only about its wasteful Cathlocisim roots). First was the El Greco house and museum - its a bit of a strange sight that is a converted house (with no connection to El Greco) turned to make it look like a house of his time, that way in its back houses a ton of original Greco's (and a few rooms with his students and imitators), including the series of his paintings of saints (some of these being copies, with the real ones in teh cathedral). They are stunning, especially to get so up close. You really so quickly get his distinctive, angular style that just oozes out of the paintings.
The last sight in city center to note was the Alcazar, which has been painstakingly turned into a museum dedicated to Spain's military history, but when we say Spain here we mean from the early Visigothic days, through Catholicism, through all the stuff in teh 1800s warring with France and what-not, to France, to now. It essentially works better in a way as a Spanish History museum told through the lens of the wars - from tons of exhibits on swords, guns, artillerary, uniforms, flags (a lovely exhibit showing the various flags with originals from teh 1400s to now) set in this fortress that also gives you great views of the new city below it. This is the one sight that took a long time (90 minutes), though I guess if you add in the makeshift museum, the main Cathedral took similarly long.
The last sight to note is not in the city old town, but opposite it in the hills with the flowing, rocky Targus river in between - which is named the Mirador del Valle (Valley View), which is just an incredible viewpoint to see old town Toledo on the hill. From there, you really get a better sense of the topography, with all the old town starting a good 40-50m above the river and then extending another 30-40 upwards. The Alcazar and The Cathedral stick out with regality, but so much else of the city is quite beautiful as well. The whole thing, especially as you get later in the day, is just magnificent. If not for the sun setting at nearly 10pm around here, I would've tried harder to come at sunset. Oh well, for the one brief time I escaped the old city walls, I was treated to a magnificent view.
**Up Next: the food and nightlife
