Today we visited Toledo, the original capital of Spain. We took an hour bus ride from Madrid to Toledo, and the first thing we did was see a panoramic view of Toledo from across the river Tajo. The medieval town is on a mountain and surrounded by walls, so the sights were absolutely beautiful! We then went to the Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes; it was built by Fernando and Isabela after a battle between the sister of the king, Isabela, and his daughter, Juana, who both thought they had the right to the throne after the death of the queen; this battle was called The Battle of Toro. Next, we visited La Sinagoga Santa María la Blanca in the Jewish Quarter, which was built by Arab carpenters, but what is really important is the primary reason for the synagogue, which is a place for people to meet, pray, and learn. Afterwards, we went to the church of Santo Tomé; it is here that the magnificent masterpiece of El Greco, “The Burial of the Count of Orgaz”, is being housed; the painting, itself, has two parts, the heaven, which had Italian influence of colors and the earth, which had Spanish influence of darker colors. In the painting, it showed the Count’s soul being lifted by two saints into heaven. Even though all of the places were beautiful, this stop was definitely my favorite. Our last stop was La Catedral of Toledo, and this cathedral took 250 years to build, so it underwent three time periods of building, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque. It was a beautiful cathedral with frescos, large pipe-organs, and spectacular stained-glass windows. We then ate at a restaurant called “El Trébol”, where señor Longoria shared some of his wild boar meat with me to try; it was delicious, and then ended the day with shopping at the main square of the town, “Plaza de Zocodover”.
Hamilton G
La Sinagoga de Santa María la Blanca
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