More explorations of Toledo. The one in Spain, not the one in Ohio.
I again made the journey from central Madrid to the wonderful city of Toledo. It was my second day visiting. I hadn’t planned on visiting two days in a row, but Toledo is just so amazingly worth it. (Check out Day 1.)
I cheated and took a city bus to the top of the hill from the train station. They drop you off conveniently at the Zocodover.
I love all the medieval buildings of Toledo.
It’s a tower, or maybe a house. A tower-house, maybe?
Even the more modern buildings fit into the medieval feel of the town.
An adorable university entrance.
It’s a gorgeous 18th century Baroque church.
There’s a neat fresco behind the altar. A little bit different from many Spanish churches.
They let you up into the towers!
The Alcázar and the cathedral.
It’s really tiny but the church is a former mosque. Some of the columns and other decorations are Visigothic.
The 11th century church is built on a 11th century mosque, which was the expansion of a 9th century mosque that was once a Visigothic church. They excavated parts of the church. There is a small passageway you climb through to see more.
They found Muslim/medieval tombs and these arches in this courtyard.
Santo Tomé is super yellow. The most yellow church I found in Spain.
All these little things on the bottom of the vaulted arches were different and painted.
Moorish arches are everywhere!
It was constructed in the late 12th-early 13th centuries. It was converted into a church after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.
Some of the decoration was added during the Christian era.
It’s a gorgeous cloister, I must say.
I love the corners of cloisters. I know, I’m weird.
It’s full of ornate carvings like this one.
The second floor of the cloister had a cool Mudejar ceiling.
I love these drain spouts. We got a cat, an eagle, a monkey and another bird.
You can visit this super fancy chapel on the inside.
Lots of pastels going on.
Cristo de la Luz, another former mosque turned church.
A very interesting building.
Heading down the hill, through the Puerta de Valmardón.
The massive Puerta de Alarcones.
Inside the double gate of the Puerta de Bisagra.
Just look how massive that gate is.
That’s all for Toledo. It was a great two-day visit. I really encourage anyone visiting Spain to make their way to Toledo. It’s a very walkable, gorgeous city that was fun just to wander around in. There are several museum and historic churches to visit as well. Well, worth the hour-long journey from central Madrid.
Check out my next update where I will be covering some random places I stopped in Spain!
or
Start at the beginning of my travels around Spain!
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About Wandering Jana
Traveling the world to discover the past.