The evening sun finds a crack through the medieval fortress of Toledo.
Pastelarias (cake shops) in Toledo specialize in marzipan made at
the local convents.
The Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes was commissioned in 1476 by the Catholic
Monarchs, to celebrate a victory over Portugal.
The Gothic cloisters were completed in 1510 but then had to be restored after Napoleon's
troops nearly destroyed them in 1808.
The Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes cloisters cast mid-morning light patterns.
An elusive museum turns up surprises in the nooks of Toledo - (However NOT the Toledo Fire
department). |
EXCERPT FROM SARA’S JOURNAL August
9, 1999
Toledo
Holy Toledo
Cervantes immortalized the Spanish province of Castilla-La Mancha with the epic
adventures of Don Quixote. The area is named for the plethora of 9th-15th
century castles that dot the wide, glowing plains and jutting limestone mountains and
gorges of this, the geographical centre of Spain. Christians, Jews and Moors battled and
co-existed, and the medieval kingdoms of Aragon and Castille set their frontiers here. La
Mancha is the world’s largest expanse of vineyards, and at this time of year, in the
fields between the fat grape harvests, there triumphs an endless expanse of pipas
– massive sunflowers, and the almost-mauve saffron crocus carpets.
To Cervantes, Toledo was a "rocky gravity, glory of Spain and light of her
cities". Following the River Tagus from its mouth at Lisbon into the centre of
Iberia, half-way to it’s source at the Mar de Castilla (just east of Madrid), one
reaches a strategic old Roman fortress – the 6th century Visigoth capitol – and
a medieval melting pot of Christian, Muslim and Jewish cultures before convivencia
was made obsolete by the Catholic Monarchs. In 1085 Toledo fell to Alfonso VI and Jewish
culture blossomed under his tolerant reign. Jewish poets, doctors, government officials
and money-lenders rose to prominence, even intermarrying with noble Christian families.
This "tolerance" was so unique that a pun for Toledo was invented – "toledancia".
During the 1492 Inquisition a dam of mounting nationalism and anti-Semitism broke and Jews
in Spain were persecuted, expelled and executed. Today, Jews of toledano descent,
some of whom still speak the 15th century Spanish Ladino, are returning
to Toledo to visit the homes of their ancestors. An American Jewish woman made headlines
when she opened the door of a Toledo home with a 500 year-old key passed down through
generations. Toledo is a patina of golden monuments to faith – a 13th
century cathedral (second only to Seville’s in size), eight synagogues (of which two
remain) and the former Muslim fortress Alcazar – all clustered on a hilltop of
monasteries and convents full of cheerful nuns manufacturing marzipan by the
tour-bus-load. The city’s ongoing project is the reparation of its 7th
century walls – a fortified belt around a soft, brown bulge of Spanish history. |
