Toledo... Words Cannot Express

I traveled to Toledo after seeing a picture of it online one day.  It spoke to me then. Toledo speaks to me still.

From the minute I stepped off the train, knew I had arrived.  A lively, creative, historically complex energy greeted me and I smiled - which was no mean feat after the day I'd been having.

I smiled all day, everywhere I went in Toledo! I have a new favorite city and Toledo is the one by which all other cities will now be measured. It's enchanting.

My host, Cěsar, was awesome when it came to getting me situated and recommending sights and restaurants.  He even put me in his car and toured me around the city.  We went places it would have been difficult for me to visit alone and we did it in a much more timely fashion than would have been otherwise possible.

Just when I thought it was a walking alley, he drove us up it in his car. Not once did he hit the walls either side and seriously, it was no wider than a King Soopers parking space! People had to jump out of the way! Later, as I journeyed alone through similar alleys, I noticed lots of deep scratches in the stone walls. Most cars seemed to be fairly well scratched in horizontal lines from front to back... so yeah, driving into the old city is a skill that is probably honed over decades and is not for the faint of heart.

From the Parador, we took in the best view of the city.

When Cěsar left me to wander alone I found myself paying for and thoroughly enjoying a walking-audio tour of the cathedral. One of the 3 most significant cathedrals in Spain, along with those in Burgos and Leòn. I kept hearing it referred to as the "primate church of Toledo"... I'm assuming they meant it was the No.1 church, rather than the church of monkeys. 

Either way, it was pretty gorgeous and home to one of the best art collections I've ever seen.  This cathedral is also a fine record of the changes that Toledo had witnessed throughout its long and interesting history. More about that later, maybe. 

There is a lot to see and do in Toledo.  Some is free, most is cheap, all are hard to find! It's a maze of squirrely streets. Actually some don't even look like streets and they all bear enough of a resemblance to each other to make navigation super interesting. There is no straight line to anywhere and no view to help a person like me - someone with a general sense of direction that is based on first knowing where you are and having an abbreviated understanding of the area you plan to get to. But honestly, one of my favorite past times here, was getting lost in this medieval masterpiece.

The Hotel Carlos V has a rooftop terrace cafe.  Cěsar told me about it... Great view of the city he said - Good for pictures.  He was not wrong! 

I took a break in the late afternoon to recharge myself and my phone before deliberately going back out and getting lost again at night. I was as happy as a pig in the mud! 

A bit about the history of Toledo... or at least my understanding of it. Please take into account severe language limitations and cut me some slack if I have misinterpreted bits! 

The name of this city has been in recorded history for about 2000 years. It resisted the advancement of roman legions until 192 AD. Until that point its position atop the hill, steep walls surrounding it and a river circling below, made it easy to defend. 

In 711, the Christians surrendered rather peacefully to Arab invaders. As a result,  they were permitted to keep personal security,  possessions and their own religious hierarchy - including the use of their churches.

At this time,  Toledo was governed from Cordoba. The city constantly rebelled against the government in Cordoba... it had quite a reputation for being rebellious,  in fact. In 807 a new (more violent) governor was appointed by the king and a plan was hatched.  Toledans were invited to a party at the royal palace and as they arrived, they were decapitated and their bodies thrown into a pre-dug pit on the palace grounds. Five thousand died that night. End of rebellion! 

Around 1000 AD, the government broke up and many of the intellectuals in Cordoba escaped to Toledo. It was still Arab ruled, but peaceful. 

In 1085, Christian troops entered the city. But by now they're was a whole different culture thriving in Toledo. Christians living among Arabs (referred to as mixed race) were called Mozarabs. They produced their own form of decorative art, architecture and literature. They had their own dialect and being bilingual gave them additional political power. The Mozarabs refused to give up their culture.  This lead to conflict but eventually they were permitted to continue to practice their own form of ritual. Unfortunately by the end of the 15th century, their rites had almost been forgotten. The culture was rescued by Cardinal Cisneros in 1504.

Today the Mozarab culture lives on in Toledo and it is considered one of the most important Mozarabs centers. The culture is preserved with dialect, music and legislative rites. Is the only western community within the Catholic church, with its own rites. 

*This explains so much of the decoration in the churches over the centuries. I saw lots of Arab design interlaced with traditional catholic decoration in the cathedral...not just here, but in Burgos too. The audio tour refers to the Mozarabs but doesn't explain well enough,  in my opinion. It does point out the Chapel that the Christians were allowed to use in the cathedral under Arab rule. (A small part of the whole church.) Luckily for me, Cěsar left me a book explaining the history of Toledo - in English!

And just like that my stay in Toledo was done.  With the precious gift of a Toledo drawing by Cěsar, in my pack, I hiked back to the train station. It was another lovely day and I was very sad to leave.