Holy Toledo

My trip to Toledo will stand out in my mind for two reasons. The first is for the gorgeous church; the second is for getting lost. My day started off so well too. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Atocha, the train station in Madrid, while a departure point for trains, was also a tropical rain forest.
After a beautiful train ride I got off at a very historic looking station. Toledo used to be the capital of the Roman Empire and Spanish empire and it’s very medieval, which is a nice change from the more modern (1500-1900) architecture I’ve been exposed to here in Europe. So after leaving the train, I set off for the tourist office (like I always do).

I had a little map from my Let’s Go Europe book, but where I was didn’t seem to be on the map. So I paid €2 for a map I didn’t really think was that good. Turns out, it didn’t even matter because I still got lost. And not just I-don’t-know-where-to-go lost, but I-have-absolutely-no-idea-where-I-am-and-where-I’m-going-and-I’m-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-and-could-very-easily-die-from-a-snake-bite-or-heat-stroke-and-no-one-would-ever-know lost. I ended up walking half down the Don Quixote trail—which I should have known, being named for an explorer was not somewhere that was going to lead me to civilization—and back and forth for an hour between the old and new section of Toledo not knowing where the heck I was. I finally crossed the Bridge of San Martin leading into Toledo and all was well.

My promised land: the Bridge San Martin

The River Tagus which I crossed three times in my wild goose chase

The second most memorable part was the church. The Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo, is, by far, the most opulent church I’ve ever seen. I read in the guide book that it was ostentatious. I didn’t see what it could mean in a church until I went in. Sadly, I couldn’t take any pictures but here are some I found from Wikipedia.



That’s just one part of the church. Now, take that and apply it to a massive church: gold everywhere, intricate carvings, stain class everywhere. I sat in a pew and thought, “No wonder there was a Reformation. Look how much wealth is in this church alone.”

The back of the Cathedral

While some sacristies in most churches are just one tiny room, this had several large rooms filled with works from Goya, Vasquez and El Greco (he lived in Toledo for a while). In the Treasury, there are pieces of 3 feet statues made of solid gold. And there’s also the sword of fascist dictator Francisco Franco which was a real treat (it was much smaller than I thought it would be). But a really interesting part of the church is that it contains a Visigoth chapel (a form of Catholicism dating back to the 7th century), and is the only place the Visigoth mass is still celebrated. How cool is that? This church is, in a word: ostentatious. If you are ever in the neighbourhood, it’s worth the €7.

Toledo is also known for its excellent sword craftsmanship, so if you’re in the market for a sword of some kind, Toledo’s the place.

Sword makers in Toledo are artisans