Advertisement
Published: September 5th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Ola,
I woke up early in the morning and caught the fast train to Toledo. The city was one of the most significant throughout history in that part of Spain and was home to Christians, Muslims and Jews alike. As a result, the hilltop city located in a bend in the Tajo River is a reposit of beautiful buildings and enthralling history.
The early morning colours in the city were quite remarkable as I made my way up the ramparts, through the walls and into the town. I walked past the Alcazar, which was closed for renovations and then I continued along the narrow winding streets until I came out in the main square in front of the towering cathedral. It was closed until later in the morning, so I continued through the streets to the Jewish quarter. Once there, I saw some beautiful views from the hilltop down to the river below as well as the rolling hills in the distance. There were even ruins of an old bridge located way down in the middle of the river below me. I went into the Sinagoga de Transisto, which had some beautiful facades in it, but I do not
know much about Jewish history so it was not as interesting to me as it could have been.
Since it was now 10am, the cathedral was open so I headed back to it. I paid the astronomical fee of 7 euros to go inside, but I was not disappointed. The building was majestic. There were many chapels scattered around the sides of the building containing meticulously designed alter pieces and gorgeous carvings. The knave was long and the ceilings were very high. The building even had four organs! One chapel in it contained the tombs of several kings, and another one contained at least a dozen paintings by the 16th century Spanish artist El Greco, who was one of the masters of his time. Oddly enough, all of the people in his paintings have pointed chins.
I circumnavigated the Cathedral and then headed off in search of a sword. Yes, you heard correctly, a sword. As some of you know, I collect artistic knives and Toledo has been a centre of sword-making for over 1000 years. I was searching high and low for one, and there was a tremendous selection because every other store sold them. The problem
was that they were all generic, mass-produced replicas of Templar swords, Roman swords or even those from the Lord of the Rings. I’m sorry, but I don’t want Legolas’s sword damnit!!! Finally, I was able to find a sword smith who made all of the swords that he sold by hand. I find a beautiful, unique one that was a replica of an 11th century Christian dagger. I talked him down a little in price and then I bought one of the more unique souvenirs I have ever encountered. I continued on through the city to the Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz. It was under repair, but you could see the artwork and the effort that had gone into the mosque. I continued from there to the Moorish style train station, where I headed back to Madrid.
Adios,
Pedro
Things I learned in Toledo:
-One can buy as many swords as one can carry
-I’m glad I don’t have a pointy chin
-Hilltop towns are incredible
Advertisement
Tot: 0.069s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 13; qc: 31; dbt: 0.0394s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb