Toledo!

We went on a day trip to Toledo, which another small city (about 80,000) an hour or so outside of Madrid. It's known as an important cultural site in Spain, because of its golden age with a shared history of La Convivencia- Christian, Jewish, and Muslim peoples living among one another- during the age of Arab rule. There was a large volume of cultural exchange, especially with translation of important texts between Arabic, Latin, Hebrew & Spanish. However, this religious tolerance came to an end with the Inquisition's expulsion of the Jews, and later, Muslims. Today, there are numerous historic sites which are still standing from the period before the Inquisition & a beautiful medieval Spanish city remains.



It was quite sunny when we visited, hence why some of these pictures have so much contrast. Life is hard in Spain sometimes.



The medieval bridge connecting the eastern and western parts of the city.



Of course, as someone who's Jewish, I was especially excited to visit the Sinagoga del Tránsito , a private synagogue from the 14th century. Technically, the king of Castile granted special permission considering constructing new synagogues was forbidden at the time. La Judería (Jewish quarter) allegedly once included almost a dozen synagogues. Today, however, there is only this synagogue as well as the Santa María la Blanca, which we did not have time to see, but is extremely unique in the sense that it was designed by a Islamic archeitect under a Christian King. Hopefully, I'll be able to make a trip back to Toledo to see it after PRESHCO ends and I have a few days in Madrid.

The Sinagoga del Tránsito was converted into a church several post-Inquisition centuries later, though today it serves as a museum of Sephardic culture (the Jewish people of Iberian origin) and the interior reflects its original use. The celing & other ornaments are a strong example of the Mudéjar style (Muslims who remained in Spain after the Inquisition & did not convert.) With the Hebrew inscription above, I thought there was a perfect example of Toledo's history of multiple faiths together.



What would have served as the Torah ark while it functioned as a synagogue.



Most of the original tiled floor has yet to be excavated, although a portion is visible for curious visitors. Considering its age of 750+ years, it was nice to see the original design, even if a lot of the color had been worn away. As with the Nueva Cathedral in Salamanca, several graves have been found underneath.



Details of the ark & walls. I thought the lion imagery with Hebrew inscriptions was another example of multiple faiths crossing paths.





Since it was impossible to take a decent picture of the celing (the archeitecture does defy artistic "rules" of the era that the celing & other dimensions be smaller & lower compared to churches....), I have a picture of the model which visitors can use to truly appreciate its proportions & artistic design.



The Sephardic museum takes the place of the entering "wings" of the synagogue on each side, as well as the upper balcony section which served as the women's section. It includes information about the history and culture of Sephardic Jews as well as numerous artifacts. The mohel chair, tefillin, menorahs & Torah I have pictures of below are all from the 17th-19th centuries.









Part of the excavated wall portions of the women's section/balcony.



Traditional Sephardic Jewish wedding garb from the 18th-19th century.





The Sephardic Museum had several older artifacts as well. These ritual jugs, bracelets & decorations are from as early as the 6th century.







Excavated pieces of the patio showing fragments of inscriptions written in Arabic. Yet another example of intercultural exchange & contribution.



After the synagogue & museum, we went to the Santo Tomé cathedral to see El Greco's The Burial of the Count of Orgaz there. While I can certainly see why individuals flocked from all over to see the painting after it was completed in the 1580's & I was happy to get the privilege to see it for free considering how jacked up the price of admission is, it was dissapointing to not be able to get very close to it & the church was much smaller/simpler than I expected such a famous work would be comissioned for.

El Greco ("The Greek" in Spanish) had arrived in Spain ten years earlier from Italy (likely encouraged by Spanish Church officials he met in Rome) & had trained as an icon painter in his native Crete and (perhaps) in Titian's studio as well. He wanted to be a court painter but King Phillip II apparently wasn't a fan of his work. Meanwhile, the Orgaz family commissioned him to paint a large altarpiece honoring their ancestor who had been a great benefactor of the Church- & at his 1523 funeral it was said Saint Augustine & Saint Stephen appeared to lower his body into his tomb as his soul was seen ascending to heaven. The local aristocracy & religious nobles are included in the scene along with El Greco himself & his 8-year old son. It has a distinguished mannerist style with lack of space,yet heaven is still distinct from earth with elongation of the heavenly figures & light from Christ/heaven.

Even with his training, there is little to no Italian influence. Perhaps this isn't surprising, considering he believed many artists relied excessively on ancient art & the quest for perfect proportion. The colors, brushwork & expressions reflect the religious revival in Spain at the time of Ignatius of Loyola, Saint John of the Cross & Saint Teresa of Ávila.



There are several cathedrals in Toledo, including the appropriately named Cathedral of Toledo, which also served as the city's central mosque during Muslim rule. It was largely destroyed by fire in 1085 and construction of the cathedral visible today started in the 13th century.



Unfortunately, another site where pictures aren't permitted. Although I was also admitely quite dehydrated & didn't really get to enjoy it/wouldn't have been in the mood to take a bunch of nice pictures, anyway. The skyline was extremely pretty, though, with its appearence that the altar was rising upward to the heavens. Another visitor decided to take a picture of it on the sly, though & posted it on flickr here

The chapel had original paintings by El Greco, Van Dyck, Raphael & others. Including El Greco's The Disrobing of Christ which includes the colors, figures & intense emotional expressions very typical of his work. Fun fact: he was dragged through court over this painting due to being underpaid for it as well as for including several figures the comissioner didn't agree to. Oh noes!



I would highly recommend Toledo as a day trip for anyone visiting Spain, especially Madrid/central Spain, considering how easy it is to get to by bus. It really is a city-size museum of sorts, documenting its history of all three Abrahamic faiths. Not to mention how almost everything is easily accessible on foot!