Toledo

Toledo is located only an hour south of Madrid and was once the capital of Spain. It is an incredibly well preserved city that has been declared a national monument. It is so well preserved that the Spanish Government has forbidden any modern exteriors be added. It is perched high on a hill and protected on three sides by the Tajo River. Both King Charles the V and El Greco the artist called it home.
The best views of Toledo are as you come in and circle the city. There is a photographic loop around three sides of it. We stayed the night in a hotel right on this loop. It was a magical day in what feels like old world Spain.
Our HOTEL:
A Walking entrance to Toledo (no cars are allowed inside the old wall of the city)


As so many other European cities, the Cathedral is one of Toledo’s main attractions. It was pretty cool! Lots of in laden gold in the high altar:


The Transparente: Located behind the high altar, is a unique feature of this cathedral. IN the 1700s, a hole was cut into the ceiling to let a sunbeam brighten Mass. Melding this big hole with the Gothic church presented a challenge, and the result was a Baroque masterpiece. (Rick Steves, Spain, pg. 455)

Can you spot the red hanging hats from the ceilings? A cardinal gets to choose a burial place in the cathedral, and hang his hat over that spot until the hat rots. Interesting tradition. There were quite a few red hats hanging all over the Cathedral.


The Cathedral is home to a few of El Greco’s famous paintings.
Once we left the cathedral, our good luck of clear skies was over. We were greeted with lots of gray clouds and soon rain. We were able to get some dinner and view one more famous painting before turning in for the night.

The Santo Tome chapel holds El Greco’s most famous piece of artwork: The Burial of the Count of Orgaz. It sits in its original place where El Greco placed it 400 years ago. It was neat to see a piece of artwork framed and placed exactly how the artist had intended it to be. It sits in the entry way to this simple chapel and is the highlight of this church.

The rainy skies were looking really cool over the city of Toledo as we were leaving.

One of our hotel rooms. It was just what you’d picture one to look like after visiting Toledo.
One of the many bridges over the Tajo River