On advice from a coworker I went to see Toledo. On advice of our hosts in Spain, I took a
taxi to a place where I could look over the city:
The view of the Medieval city was splendid. What amazed me, however, was later to see a view of this city painted by El Greco in the late 1500's, from roughly the same place. It did not look at all very different!
From this place I could not see the river directly below me, but moving downhill just a little allowed me to see it at the north and south entries into the city. Later, I'll have a picture from the south bridge visible below, looking this way, but first I have to walk about seven hours.
Directly below me at this spot were some rapids over a water flow control structure that probably serves to create a pool during times of low flow, for city water-supply use:
Having come by taxi from the area of the south gate, where the train station is, I decided to
walk to the north gate. Turned out to be a very long walk.
I was very glad to finally cross the northern gate's pedestrian bridge, and looked back to where I had come from, atop the center hill in the picture below:
It was a pleasure to enter the city and find SHADE!
Shade was enhanced in main streets by the hanging of canvas, as shown in this picture. This is a preparation for the great festival I missed the next weekend, the celebration of Christ's 2000th year, and the entire parade route was being shaded. How thoughtful!
One of the monuments on my list turned out to be so impressive I was actually glad that photos were not allowed inside: there was no way I could do justice in my snapshots to the ornateness and magnificence of the artwork in this, one of the greatest cathedrals in Christendom.
I found the history of Judaism in Spain, as told in the museum in this old synagogue, revealing. There were many of centuries of peace for Jews in Spain, with a few centuries of savagery from their Christian neighbors, once prior to the invasion by the Moors, under whom they thrived, and then in the late 1500's when jews were expelled from Spain. The Christian reconquest, I was surprised to hear, was peaceful for them. It was a century or so later that all hell broke loose and the choice was to convert to Chrisitanity, leave Spain, or die. A religio-ethnic cleansing from a former time.
This synagogue was lost to the Jews for some time, but its new occupants did not erase all signs of the original Jewish builders and occupants. The building still shows the original designs by the Jewish constructors in its beautiful frieze in its prayer hall, its ceilings, and higher reaches of its walls:
Across the street from this synagogue was a good view of the river to the west:
I visited several places where El Greco paintings were displayed, and found his larger scale paintings fascinating. But, no pictures allowed. I was glad it was time to head onto the main street and start back for the train station. Shade on this stretch of the way was appreciated, but as I quickly found out, with curving streets shade never lasts as long as the journey:
I was again amazed at how far it was to walk from the middle of the town to the south gates and bridge. There I looked back again in the direction from which I had started my day in Toledo, on the top at the very right of the center hill:
The ornate train station is a fine example of the Moorish influence (mudejar architecture) that remains in this region. Its benches, in the shade outside, were a welcome sight for my weary feet.
