TANTALIZING TOLEDO
Of Drizzles and Squalls, Churches and Synagogues, Legends and Obras Maestras
It was a day of many firsts. It was our first time exploring in the rain, for whenever we think of Spain, sunny days come to mind. It was our first time with no tour guide, for we are no strangers to the city. It is likewise our first time to intentionally skip all the familiar major sites – we were only going to concentrate on never-visited venues such as the Sinagoga de Santa Maria La Blanca and Museo del Greco.
Our destination for the day was Toledo, known as the City of Three Cultures due to its Catholic, Muslim and Jewish inspirations, just an hour or so away from the capital city of Madrid.
With borrowed umbrellas in hand, we began our amble through the San Martin Bridge – not the usual drop-off point – a medieval link that stretched across the Tagus River. This aqueduct, fortified by towers on both sides, contained five arches, of which the middle spanned 40 meters, an engineering achievement that was rare in those days.
We crossed through the grandest of gateways and on the next step, we were in the town proper. ¡Bienvenidos!
Due to the pouring rain, our refuge and first unplanned stopover was the Monasterio
de San Juan de Los Reyes, founded by King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile, staunch Catholic Monarchs.
The monastery was constructed in the shape of a Latin cross. A sight to behold was the elongated nave, flanked by numerous side chapels. The ground floor had several statues of saints. A particular one I remembered on previous tours was the Humiliation of Christ by the Capilla de San Francisco, dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Order of Friars of Franciscan Minors.
From the nearby cloister with a serene mini-garden, we noticed the downpour had subsided.
Our first destination was the Sinagoga de
Santa Maria La Blanca. Based on etchings on one of its beams, legend has it that the building was established in 1180, making it among the oldest existing in all of Europe.
Constructed under orders of the Christian Kingdom of Castile by Islamic architects for Jewish use, it is considered as a symbol of unity among three different cultures during the Middle Ages.
We gazed at the scallop-shelled arch in the middle of the edifice, which was said to be the location of the Torah ark, an ornamental chamber that held handwritten copies of the Torah scrolls. There was a menorah relic on display, plus preserved antique Jewish attires, among many other reliquary items.
We unexpectedly found ourselves within the courtyard – devoid of people – and surprisingly discovered tranquil open-air final resting places, which we then realized was closed off to visitors. ¡Mea culpa!
The other main target of our established itinerary was the never-been-before Museo del
Greco. Born Domenikos Theotokopoulos in the hideaway rural hamlet of Fodele in Greece, he spent the majority of his life in Toledo and became one of the most-known painters in his era.
Opened in 1911, the complex was divided into two buildings – one was a faithful reconstruction of his home which, unfortunately, was not accepting guests – while the other was the museum proper that focused on the life and works of this mannerist painter.
The showroom served as a haven for the maestro's obras
maestras. One of the most popular collections was the Apostalado,
13 portraits created with a larger picture in mind – Christ in the middle, looking straight ahead, flanked by six disciples on each side, except Judas, was replaced by Saint Paul.
Other miscellany included canvasses, potteries and furniture from local artists and craftsmen.
Feeling the urge to see for ourselves more of El Greco's works, we made an unscheduled detour to the Iglesia de Santo Tome – to beholden our eyes once again on his best-known magnum opus.
We entered a separate chapel and before we knew it, we stood in front of El Entierro del Conde de
Orgaz – The Burial of the Count of Orgaz – a Renaissance showpiece that illustrated a popular fable.
Recalling what several knowledgeable tour guides explained in the past, this gem of
painting was divided into two parts – the bottom section depicted mortals, which illustrated the death of Don Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo, Mayor of the town of Orgaz, surrounded by saints and noblemen. The upper half showed a descent of heavenly figures to carry on his soul to the afterlife. The result is an expansive 190-by-140inch wonder.
Sans raindrops in the sky, but with water puddles over cobblestoned streets – we dodged in what reminded us of our leading folk dance, the Tinikling – we decided to take a long-winded walk around town to check out the various souvenir shacks. We positively noted that the passed-throughgenerations tradition of damascene – the art of imprinting different metals into one another – was still alive and doing well. This was proudly confirmed by the shop owner.
We could not help but stop at one of the
cafeterias, where we enjoyed our favorite tazas de café and sweet marzipan – an almond confection – in a leisurely laid-back manner, as we waited for the deluge to soften into a drizzle.
We soon found ourselves within the periphery of the Alcazar de Toledo, a stone-walled fort in the highest part of the city. We were reminded of the heartbreaking story of Colonel José Moscardó Ituarte, who during the Siege of the Alcázar, was forced to make a difficult decision. His son 24-yearold son Luis was taken hostage and the demand was to surrender this edifice in exchange for his child's life. Reports say he told his son over the phone, "Commend your soul to God, shout ' Viva España!' and die like a hero."
Unexplainably, our bodies started to move – almost out of habit – as we headed to the Catedral
Primada Santa María de Toledo, the grandest house of prayer. Commandeering in width and towering in height, it is a mainstay of the skyline and one of the top tourist attractions.
We fervently whispered a prayer for the day, thanked that the rains were a blessing in disguise that made us visit – in addition to our discoveries – the usual haunts that made Toledo the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
As the famous Spanish saying goes: El hombre
propone y Dios dispone. No matter how much we planned out our day – man proposes, God disposes.