Toledo Information

The city of the three cultures

Toledo was Christian from the fourth century onwards, as it was part of the Roman Empire, and along the centuries it kept the same faith and culture under the Visigoth kingdom although there were hard fought arguments against pagan flows known as the Arrianismo. Even under the Muslim rule, the people of Toledo never lost their Christian faith.

In the seventeenth century Toledo had about seventy Christian religious buildings allocated to different uses, like schools, hospitals and charity houses, the Santa Justa and Rufina churches being the oldest ones in Toledo.

The urban style of Toledo is mainly Arab: narrow streets, houses that almost touch their roofs, the windows never being one in front of others, the richest inside patios with plenty of green, tiles and water fountains. Two mosques out of the dozen that were built up once still exist: The current churches of Cristo de la Luz and Tornerías.

The major mosque was located where the current cathedral is today, but it’s understood that it wasn’t a very impressive building, just a very spacious place for every man to pray.

In the area where the Holy Cross museum and the Alcazar are located, the town once had its own wall that separated the noble area including the palace and the other important buildings from the rest of the city.

It is believed that in the south of the city beside the dyer industries, the great astronomer Azarquiel built a legendary clock and an aquatic calendar.

The Alfonso VI, the old bisagra, the Vado, the Alcantara and the twelve edges gates have Arab structure. The wheel on the bank of the river Tajo is also of Arab heritage. The Arab influence is especially found in the Mudéjar style within the architecture and decoration using bricks, masonry, linked arches, wooden roofs and rich plasterworks.

The two existing synagogues, gave the name to the neighborhood of the Jewish quarter, where it’s believed there was a majority of Jewish population. Once, the city used to have about ten synagogues. The quarter limits used to be at Cambron gates. Close to the Jewish gate there are still several houses with remains of the ritual baths in their cellars, called mikwa.

Commerce was the main activity of the Jewish people, who use to live directly above their shops and workshops, and at that time they the Jewish were not limited to the Jewish quarter.

The city of Toledo, located in the heart of Spain, about 70 Km to the south of Madrid,  was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1986. Toledo is to Spain as Kyoto is to Japan.

World heritage

Since 1986 the millennium city of Toledo was appointed since 1986 on the Official World Heritage List thanks to its "Cultural Assets", of its landscapes, its geographic setting, and the embrace of the river, the Cigarrales orchards, las Vegas low lands, and its viewpoints (La Granja, Virgen de Gracia, Santa Leocadia, San Cristóbal).

El Greco and Toledo