Toledo

Today Matt and I went on a day excursion to Toledo, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The excursion was included in the program and everyone from the program went. We left Madrid at 9 AM and took about an hour bus ride to get there where we were split up into tour groups, each with a tour guide. We visited the Gothic monastery called Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes, the cathedral called Catedral de Toledo, the Plaza de Zocodover, the Goya museum, and wandered through various quaint cobblestone streets. As you will see from the pictures, it is a much more historically and culturally rich city than Madrid. The architecture reflects Moorish, Jewish and Christian influences. In my Cultural History of Spain class I took last semester I did a presentation on the architecture of Spain. It was very interesting to finally see these structures in real life. I was able to recognize the different architectural styles such as Baroque, Gothic, and Mudéjar (Muslim influence in Christian territory). The tour that Matt and I joined was led by María, a director from the Fundación Ortega y Gasset. She was wonderful at explaining clearly and concisely the history behind all of the monuments.

The Catedral de Toledo started being built in 1226 and was finished during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II, in 1493. My favorite part was the 200 kg (440 lb) monstrance encrusted with jewels, including Queen Isabella’s diamond cross pendant in the center above the host. This huge vessel is carried around the city on the national holiday of Corpus Christi on Thursday (no class!). The streets that will be displaying the monstrance have white hanging tarps to protect the monstrance from the sunlight. The homes on those streets also hang colorful tapestries outside of their windows and balconies to celebrate the holiday.

Monstrance -->

At 2:30 PM, we ate lunch in a courtyard in the Fundación Ortega y Gasset in Toledo. It was buffet-style with traditional Spanish cuisine. It was a nice break from having walked around on the cobblestone streets all day. After lunch, we strolled around the Plaza de Zocodover and then got back on the buses. The buses took us to a viewpoint of the city before heading back to Madrid. We were back in our homes by 8:30 PM. It was a long day, twelve hours total, but well worth it.

<-- View of Toledo

-Laila