Unknown Toledo

It happens sometimes that when you are living abroad (like in Germany), you appreciate much more minor historical cities, which are nothing when compared with some of the wonders we have in Spain. Something like this has happened to me with Toledo (and I am not talking about the Toledo in Ohio).

Toledo has been for most of my life a place when we were going year after year on holidays with the school, in an age where I was not able to appreciate any historical value at all. I only remember the Alcázar (Toledo's castle), but very vaguely.

Some days ago, we visited Toledo; in my case for the first time in more than 20 years. In despite of the hot temperatures which accompanied us during our stay (it was like breathing fire, nothing I have seen before), I can say that it was a very interesting visit. The amount of historical buildings (especially churches and convents) is simply breathtaking. What is more, the special configuration of the city, on a hill over River Tagus provides marvellous panoramic views. It is really difficult to highlight something in particular, since the historical center of Toledo is so large and rich in history, that other "historical" towns look like toys compared with it. For example, the picture to the right depicts some paintings in a church from the XIVth century.

The city is announcing itself now to the tourists as the city of the three cultures, since Jews, Muslims and Catholics lived there, in relative harmony, for some hundreds of years. One can question whether life was like that but what I cannot question is that in the some town you can visit a synagogue, a (former) mosque and a church, something which not many places in the world can offer.

Also remarkable are the paintings of El Greco, overall the "Burial of the Count of Orgaz" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burial_of_the_Count_of_Orgaz), since they seem to be 300 years ahead of the time when they were painted.

One has to mention here the cathedral, which is really impressive, for the rich collection of art which is inside. I did not like the tone of the music in the audio-guides: it was too similar to some songs from the Spanish Civial War. But, anyway, we forgive it: everybody knows that Toledo is a very religious and conservative city in Spain.

I am just uploading some pictures I took with the Blackberry (because I took my photo camera empty of batteries with no charger), just to give you an idea of what to find there. It is simply too much to put in a single post here, I could write and write and write... The better thing is to walk through the streets of Toledo and to feel the history blowing in the wind.