We enjoyed another easy drive from Ávila to Toledo. As we approached Toledo I could see that the city was quite prominent. It is situated on the top of a hill surrounded by a river on three side. I was impressed before we even entered the city.
As a side note, what I like about links from Wikipedia is if you click on the photo on the right side of the web page you will see many photographs of the location, some of them historical, many times they include Flags and the Coat of Arms, etc.
We checked into our hotel, the San Juan de los Reyes, an ok hotel, but a wonderful location, in the Jewish Quarter. (Beth note: We were so excited about this hotel which is a renovated old flour factory. The outside is very well done and promised great things inside - alas it didn't deliver. It had about as much charm as a Motel 6 - oh well it was clean and as Howard said, a great location)
Just up the street, we first visited the Santo Tomé to see the famous painter El Greco, The Burial of Count Orgaz. I have to admit that when we saw El Greco's paintings in the Prado, I didn't love his elongated style...for me it was a bit over the top. However this painting does not have that style and it has a lot of interesting things. For one the painting is divided into Heaven above and Earth below. Above the faces you see a little baby going up the birth canal, to be reborn in heaven where he greeted by the saints, Mary and Jesus. Interesting enough El Greco painted himself into the piece, 7th from the left (the one looking right at you and appearing to not be participating in the funeral). And he also included his son, the boy on the bottom left pointing at the priest. I did like this piece a lot.
Next we visited what was formally a Jewish synagogue called Ibn Shushan. It is considered the oldest synagogue building in Europe still standing.
The Catholic Church, "owns" it and the Jewish community wants them to give the synagogue back to the Jews. It is currently called the Santa María la Blanca. When I first walked in it felt like a mosque, not a synagogue. It looks and feels this way because it was originally constructed under Christian approval by Islamic artist specifically for Jewish use. I would love to daven here!!
Toledo is an ancient city (2,000 years of history) and was known for the co-existence of Christian, Jews and Muslims.
Next we visited the Synagogue of El Transito. It has incredible detailed hebrew writing all along the top portion of the temple on all four sides. It it the best surviving piece of Toledo's Jewish past.
Now the synagogue also serves as a Jewish museum and displays menorahs, books, artifacts and ritual clothing. The Ark is behind some Muslim style arches, and there still is some of the original mosaic tiles flooring. I would like to pray here too!
Within a block is the El Greco Museum. This place was also special because they recreated El Greco's home. So we had a sense of how he lived and worked. We saw his The Twelve Apostles which, to me, all looked the same. But I did loved the View and Plan of Toledo.
Everything we have visited so far is in the Jewish Quarter. As we have walked around we keep seeing many different types of Jewish tiles on the streets, sides of buildings. Some say Shepard, some Chai and others are Menorah's. I liked seeing them to remind me of being in the Jewish Quarter.
After lunch we visited the San Juan de los Reyes Monasterio.
While we can get "over churched" the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes is neat because of the fine carvings. "Everything had meaning in the 15th century. Even this small monkey, an insulting symbol of Franciscans, on a toilet reading the Bible upside down. It is thought that a stone carver snuck in a not too subtle comment on Franciscan pseudo intellectualism, with their large libraries and small brains"
It is said to have been built to commemorate the birth of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile's first son Prince John AND to commemorate their victory at the Battle of Toro.
Some other images of the Plaza
We heard that the best views of Toledo were from the Parador Hotel. Therefore we decided to take the short drive to have a drink, watch the sunset over Toledo.
On the way we stopped to view the Puenté de Alcántara.
I also loved these Hebrew sayings that Toledo shines on the walking streets at night
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