Toledo Afternoon

Okay, let’s continue exploring the Toledo UNESCO World Heritage Site and get ready to visit what’s probably its most significant site, its cathedral.

Plaza del Ayuntamiento

Plaza del Ayuntamiento is the center of the government and the Catholic Church in Toledo. In addition to city hall, you’ll find the Archbishop’s Palace. And you’ll also find Toledo’s (and maybe Spain’s) grandest religious structure of all.

Adjacent to City Hall is the Archbishop’s Palace, where Spain’s top Catholic lives. Construction began in the 15th century. Construction and renovations continued for multiple centuries. The current exterior as it looks now was mostly completed in the 18th century. Refurbishments on the interior continued into the 20th century.

Toledo Cathedral

The official name of Toledo Cathedral is Catedral Primada Metropolitana de Santa María de la Asunción. The Primada refers to the fact that it is the seat of the highest ranking archdiocese in Spain. It was given that designation by the pope in 1088, shortly after the Christians regained control of Toledo from the Moors (after almost 4 centuries of Islamic rule). Construction of the cathedral began in 1227 and was completed in 1493. It is considered by some to be the prime example of the High Gothic style in Spain.

A monumental mural of Saint Christopher carrying the Christ Child. Seriously, this painting has to be about 100 feet tall.

The cathedral was built on the site of a former mosque. But this was a rare case of the mosque first being built on the site of a former Visigoth church.

The incredible altarpiece in the cathedral. Made of gilded and polychrome wood, construction took place over 6 years, from 1498 to 1504. It was one of the last examples of such elaborate Gothic work, before the Renaissance arrived in Spain.

*Transparente*, this altarpiece is considered to be the peak of the Spanish Baroque. (It seems we skipped right over the Renaissance.) It was created between 1729 and 1732 by Spanish artist Narciso Tomé. It’s installed behind in the ambulatory, the walkway behind the high altar.

The altarpiece gets its name from a feature that seems very clever and a little confusing. There’s a small round window in the ceiling across from the Transparente. Then there’s a hole in the altarpiece that allows light coming in from the window to shine onto the tabernacle. I need to go back to Toledo to get a better understanding of how this all works!

The cathedral’s chapterhouse, where the college of clerics meets. The chapterhouse was built in the early 16th century. The coffered ceiling was created from 1508 to 1510.

The fresco on the ceiling of the sacristy was created by Italian Baroque painter Luca Giordano.

El Greco’s *The Disrobing of Christ*, 1579, is on display in the sacristy.

Another work by El Greco in the sacristy, *Christ on the Cross*, 1577-1579.

This is another somewhat confusing feature of the cathedral–the Descent Chapel. Unlike most chapels, built into the sides of a cathedral, this 1 is in the middle. It is said to be the spot where the Virgin Mary descended from heaven to give San Ildefonso his priestly vestments in 665.

According to legend, the location of the Descent Chapel was the site of the main altar of the Visigoth church that was the site of the mosque that is now the site of the cathedral.

The treasure of the cathedral: the Great Monstrance of Arfe. The monstrance was created by Enrique de Arfe, a German metalworker, from 1517-1524. It’s made of gilded silver. The gold is believed to be the 1st gold Columbus brought back from the Americas. Can you imagine carrying that through the streets of Toledo?

The cathedral’s Easter candle holder. That’s quite a candlestick!

What’s a Gothic cathedral without gorgeous stained glass windows?

The Portal of the Lions on the cathedral’s south side.

Alcázar of Toledo

As we’ll remember from our visit to the Alcázar of Segovia, an alcázar is generally a medieval castle built by the Moors. The Alcázar of Toledo has quite a history. It was originally a Roman palace from the 3rd century. It became an Islamic fortress in the 10th century. After the Reconquista, it came under Catholic rule.

A vertical view of the Alcázar of Toledo.

The Alcázar of Toledo was heavily damaged during the Spanish Civil War. Repairs took 2 decades after the war ended in 1939.

I got full-length view of the *alcázar* I was descending from central Toledo back down to the station.

Station to Station

A very full day in Toledo was over. It was time to head back home… back to my home in Madrid anyway. And there’s no better way to travel than by train!

Toledo Railway Station

After spending the day in central Toledo, high above the plain of the Tagus, it was back across the Puente de Alcántara and down to Toledo Railway Station.

I got to admire the decor of Toledo Railway Station while waiting for my train back to Madrid.

Very interesting design work inside the station. You get a sense of the Moorish influence.

The Islamic influence is unmistakable here.

Madrid Atocha

Originally built in 1851, Madrid Atocha is Madrid’s oldest major station. After being mostly destroyed by a fire, it was rebuilt and reopened in 1892 with a wrought iron design. Gustave Eiffel himself, master of wrought iron, assisted with the new design. After decades of expansion, the original terminal building was no longer needed. It was converted into a tropical garden in 1992.

Tragedy struck Atocha in March of 2004 when rush hour commuter trains were struck by a coordinated bomb attack, killing 193. I remember hearing about the news in my hotel room in Santa Monica. It was so shocking, coming on the heels of 9/11.

This views shows the lushness of the tropical garden.

Madrid Atocha sits at the southern end of the Paseo del Prado, and is therefore the southernmost significant structure of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro, a landscape of Arts and Sciences.

A higher up view of the tropical garden in the original terminal building.

Madrid Atocha is so big and confusing, I had had a hard time finding where to catch my train to Toledo in the morning. And I even had a hard time finding my way outside after visiting the tropical garden!

The original (rebuilt) façade of Madrid Atocha.

I hope you agree that Day 8 was quite a day!

[Factual information is primarily gathered from Wikipedia, so you know it must be true.]