Summer in Spain 2015: Sat., June 13: TOLEDO!

Toledo is perhaps my favorite place I've visited so far. Of course, there are so many incredible things to see that such a statement may be a little premature. However, the history of Toledo and how evident the tradition and scope of that history is in the landscape and the character of the city is a little overwhelming.

Alice, Amanda, and I all went together...and Tanner who is another Marshall student. We had to wake up at 7 just like every other normal day, in order to arrive on time at the designated bus stop up at the Moncloa Metro station, this is right near the airforce.

The excursion was delayed for about half an hour in part because the professors had to call role off of the buses (this meant unloading and reloading everyone) and also because several people were late. But once we were off it was very smooth sailing. Most of the bus slept.
Here's my first view of Toledo:

Here we are approaching the old outer walls and then around to the Gate of Alfonso VI (shown below). Alfonso VI reconquered Toledo from the Muslim King who were ruling throughout the southern part of Spain at that time, having been slowly pushed out of Spain by the Catholic kings who had established themselves in the North. Toledo was the central capital of the Iberian Peninsula from which all of the other smaller "taifas" or kingdoms were managed. This is the gate through which he entered the city on his conquest. Legend has it that Alfonso lived in the city and was close friends with the Muslim ruler...on the terms that he would do no harm to that king. One afternoon he went to eat with the King in his palace. After lunch Alfonso feigned sleep while the king and another guest discussed the city strengths and weaknesses of the cities fortifications. Many years later when Alfonso returned to conquer the city he remembered that this gate was the weakest point of access and used that knowledge to capture the capital.

(We got to walk through it into the city!!)

Above is our next stop on our guided tour of the city. We had been split up into different groups depending on our level. This is the Church of the Santiago de Arrabal. It is a church that was built by Muslim architects for Christians to worship. It is built in the "Mudejar" style which utilizes common Arabic designs, especially the arches of the door and on the façade. Even after the Christian reconquest of the Iberian pensinsula Muslim populations were allowed to remain and practice their religion freely in peace. Toledo is known for being a city inhabited peacefully by the three distinct cultures of Jews, Muslims, and Christians. (That is until Isabel and Ferdinand, in 1492 the Jewish populations in Spain were forced to either convert or leave Spain. It was the same in 1502 for the Muslim populations.)

This is Toledo's Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun), the views were lovely.

This white stone is to mark where Alfonso VI horse, according to legend, stopped on the way up through the city during the conquest and refused to move until Alfonso had entered the small Mosque to pray (as was common for any traveler upon entering or exiting the city). When he went inside he saw a vision of Christ showered in light...thus he declared this to be a holy Christian site. It is now known as The Mesquita de Cristo de la Luz=The Mosque of Christ of the Light. (Shown below)

It is incredibly old...there are apparently inscription on the side of the building that date its completion to the 10th century as a Visigothic Church

Below is the ceiling. It is very small but holds incredible importance for Christians and Muslims...with the remnants of the old Visigothic structure beneath it. The style is Mudejar...there are maybe 9 columns in the center of the place with very high ornate ceilings up from these.

Then you have these images of saints in the inner part.

Here's a look at the Visigothic part...

And then more pics of the ceiling and structure:

And now look how beautiful this place is!
...also observe the selfie madness which goes on here...selfie sticks are real and very popular amongst tourists.

Hello!

Now join me on a leisurely up hill walk through the main streets of Toledo... It was still decorated for Corpus Christi, which is especially important in this city.

This is a bad picture with an interesting story. There is behind the bars and glass an image of the Virgin Mary surrounded by flowers and pretty vases and all along in front of her is are little pins. I don't remember the names but there is this great little legend along with this. Long ago there was a young woman in love with a man who had to travel far from Madrid. While he was away the woman would go to this image and pray all through the night and disturb the older woman who lived next to her. This older women seeking desperately to shut the other up would stick her with pins but to no avail. After many weeks the woman's love returned safely and the two were married....As a result however, any young women seeking a husband or praying for the safe return of a lover would go and pray to this virgin and the other women never had peace again. The end

Now thanks to this legend it is a tradition for anyone seeking a spouse to come to this image and leave a pin for good luck.

Below are images of the Plaza de Zocodver where we were released for about 30 minutes of free time in which we could eat or relax or shop. It is the main plaza of Toledo.

After regrouping we continued on to the Cathedral of Toledo.

There was some kind of sporting event (Not tennis) going on at this time with really loud music... It was funny and a little sad that most the students were rather lethargic throughout the whole tour especially while the professor tour guide was talking, came alive when some American song came on these loud speakers. Also, there was a little boy on the side of the court trying to break dance...it was so cute and kind of reminded me of Ethan at weddings.
On from there to another small church that houses a very famous religious painting by El Greco (Greek artist who lived in Spain and particularly Toledo for many years): The Burial of Count Orgaz.
That was just about it for the guided tours...We walked as a group down to see the Tagas River and then we were free until 4:30 to explore on our own.
Tanner, Amanda, and I spent the afternoon wandering through different residential areas taking in the wealth of views. We walked most of the way around the city along the river..at one point making our way down to the waters edge. It was beautiful despite the clouds, these served to keep the heat down throughout most of the day--once they dispersed around 3 it began to be very hot.

Did some shopping... Toledo is known for there metal working as in the production of swords and knives, the production of damask, and I believe pottery. At least this is what everyone was selling. We went into this really cool but rather expensive pottery store which seemed to on for miles underneath in a kind of cave.