Was a little confusing this morning to
get a ticket to Toledo. The Renfe (train service provider) officer at Principe
Pio station was robotically cold. He spoke only Spanish, I had no clue of what
he said. It was almost 1pm when the train arrived at Toledo.
The Muslims conquering Toledo in 711AD
after Visigoths kingdom fell. Alfonso VI marched into Toledo in 1085, shortly
after Vatican recognised Toledo as a seat of the Spanish Church. Initially the
Christians, Jews and Muslims coexisted tolerably well. In 1492, Jews and
Muslims were compelled to convert to Christianity or flee. In 1986 Unesco
declared Toledo a monument of world interest.
The old town is perched on a hill. It
challenged my poor sense of direction to navigate in the labyrinth of narrow
alleys. Without having a proper map on hand, I had wasted quite some time to
orientate myself.
The Catedral de Toledo dominates the
skyline. Its interior was beautifully decorated – high nave, intricate designs,
excellent sculptures, beautiful ceiling painting… extraordinary. My knowledge
on Spain’s history and European cultural development was almost zero, couldn’t
understand the interesting background/ history/ story of it.
Museo of
Santa Cruz was not exceptional, I spent too much time there.
Toledo is no doubt beautiful, but I just couldn't lift my
mood to walk, to appreciate, to photograph. Its resemblances to Siena (Italy)
didn’t excite me much as anticipated.
Worried of missing the train back to
Madrid while the historical sights are sparsely scattered, I picked only a few
major attractions.
 |
| AVE high speed train. |
 |
| Railway station Toledo, small but elegant. |
 |
| Toledo old town, view from main road. |
 |
| One of the entrances into old town. |
 |
| Islamic design is seen at the old church. |
 |
| Road leads to old town. |
 |
| Arches. |
 |
| A view of Toledo. |
 |
| View adjacent to the old town. |
 |
| Museo de Santa Cruz. |
 |
| Museo de Santa Cruz, interior. |
 |
| Museo de Santa Cruz, the exhibits. |
 |
| Square frames, square windows... beauty of simplicty. |
 |
| White wash building glowed in the sunlight. |
 |
| The interwoven narrow alleys confused my orientation. |
 |
| Catedral de Toledo, my best pick in Toledo. |
 |
| Catedral de Toledo. |
 |
| Catedral de Toledo. |
 |
| Catedral de Toledo. |
 |
| Catedral de Toledo, beautifully crafted choir. |
 |
| Catedral de Toledo, the light pierced through the dome with a group of sculptures "sitting" on the ceiling. This is the most unique feature in this cathedral. |
