Toledo

The holy cathedral church, consecrated to the Virgin Mary in her Assumption to heaven, began to be built in the year 1226, under the mandate of Archbishop D. Rodrigo Jiménez Rada, on the foundations of the Visigothic cathedral from the 15th century. Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, on the foundations of the Visigothic cathedral from the 6th century which was used as a mosque. The building is built in Gothic style with a clear French influence. It is 120 m long and 60 m wide. It consists of 5 naves, supported by 88 columns and 72 vaults. The side aisles extend behind the main chapel, surrounding the presbytery and creating an ambulatory with a double semicircular aisle. Its first architect was Master Martin, of French origin, to whom we owe the layout of the ground plan and the beginnings of the work on the chevet of the church. It was not until the 14th century that the side naves could be closed off, and it was in this same century when it was built, in the time of archbishop D. Pedro Tenorio and on the north side, the lower cloister with its outbuildings. Pedro Tenorio and on the north side, the lower cloister was built with its outbuildings, the most notable being the chapel of San Blas, which served as his burial place. In the 15th century, the chapel of San Pedro was built next to the entrance to the cloister, and later the chapel of Santiago, the family pantheon of the Luna family, was built in the chancel. At the end of this century, in 1493, being archbishop Pedro González de Mendoza, advisor to Isabella the Catholic, the last vault was closed, thus concluding this great construction. In the 16th century, the altarpiece, the upper part of the choir and the grilles were built. In the first half of the century, all the stained glass windows were closed and various modifications were made to the floor plan, such as the chapter house and the Mozarabic chapel under Cisneros, and the chapel of the New Kings under Fonseca. Inside it has great works and treasures such as the Custody of Arfe or paintings as important as the Expolio by Greco.

On the highest hill in the city, at 548 m, the solitary rectangular mass of the Alcazar dominates the skyline. It is one of the few exempt buildings in the city. The remains of earlier structures indicate that it was always a fortified place, from the Roman praetorium and the defence of the Muslim citadel. The current building was commissioned by Emperor Charles V to provide a residence worthy of such a monarch. The former medieval castle was almost completely destroyed for this purpose, although crenellated structures remain on the eastern façade. Each façade of the building artistically determines the time in which it was built, within the different phases of the Spanish Renaissance. It was used for various purposes, such as the Crown prison, military barracks for its own and foreign armies, or silk workshops, before housing the Infantry academy. The building suffered several fires, some caused by arson, such as in 1710 during the War of Succession, being restored under the direction of Ventura Rodríguez, twice during the War of Independence and in 1887, this time by chance, before its almost total destruction in September 1936. Its reconstruction began in 1940, crowned in 1961 with the inauguration of the monument to the defenders of the Alcazar during the Civil War, designed by Juan de Ávalos. For years it housed part of the Army Museum's catalogue, being adapted to house it in its entirety as the only national location for this collection and inaugurated as such in 2010. Work was also carried out to adapt the upper floor of the building to the needs of the modern Library of Castilla-La Mancha. Through its collections and exhibition discourse, the history of Spain is shown and the military contributions to the intellectual, social, cultural and scientific progress of Spain are made known.

It is considered one of the most important museums in Spain, not only because of the uniqueness of its headquarters, the former Hospital de Santa Cruz del Cardenal Mendoza, but also because of the richness and variety of its collections. Founded by Cardinal Mendoza, the building is unique as a hospital that incorporates new ideas about the importance of hygiene, ventilation and sunlight. Still with medieval characteristics, it shows the evolution towards Renaissance Plateresque. It has three important collections: Roman, Visigoth, Arab and Mudejar archaeology; 16th-17th century Toledan painting, with works by El Greco; and industrial arts, with examples of popular culture and local artisan tradition. The building was constructed in the first decades of the 16th century, after the death of its founder, and is one of the architectural masterpieces of the Spanish Renaissance. It has a Greek cross plan with two storeys, a large central transept open to both storeys and a total of eight bays, plus another room above the entrance hall, all of them covered with wooden roofs. It also has two cloistered courtyards between its arms. The design and execution of the building involved such outstanding figures as Antón and Enrique Egas, famous Toledan architects of Flemish origin, and the master Alonso de Covarrubias. Its magnificent façade, dedicated to the devotion of the Holy Cross, the main cloister and the splendid staircase of Covarrubias, in the main courtyard, justify a visit to this museum in itself.

The Roberto Polo Collection (CORPO) is a journey through art from the second half of the 19th century to the present day, traced by the singular and personal gaze of its expert collector, and in surprising dialogue with the historical and cultural vestiges present in the architecture of the Santa Fe complex, from its foundation as a caliphal palace (c. IX) until its transformation into a convent (XVI-XVIII c.); Punctual works of the c. XIX, a large sample of the historical and peripheral (northern, central and eastern European) avant-gardes of the 20th century The exhibition includes a selection of European and American contemporary art, through to the minimalism of the 1960s, and a selection of European and American contemporary art. There are 250 works by 171 artists; painting, sculpture, assemblage, decorative arts and photography, distributed over 8,000 square metres. The dialogue established between modern and contemporary art and Islamic and Mudejar architecture and ornamentation, and its evolution in the Gothic to the Baroque of its central staircase, is surprising. One of the most striking examples of this is Miquel Navarro's installation (Sombras lunares, 2005) within the archaeological remains of the palace of 'Abd al-Rahman III (10th century); .

It is one of the most important monuments of Hispano-Muslim and Mudéjar architecture in Spain, built in 999 (10th century). Small as jewels, this valuable millenary building is a unique example of the survival of the art of Al-Andalus: a mosque or small oratory from the Caliphate period to which two centuries later, when it was transformed into a church, an apse was added following the style of the original building, giving rise to Mudejar art, in perfect combination and symbiosis. The current hermitage of Cristo de la Luz is the oldest standing monument in the city of Toledo. Small but rich in history and art. Its similarities and differences with the Great Mosque of Cordoba make it a tourist attraction that you should not miss if you come to visit Toledo and want to soak up its multicultural history. Islamic Toledo, largely unknown to many, enjoys an important significance in this unique building. The Toledo of the three cultures made into a building: the attainment of civilisations that played a major role in the history of our city is once again a reality in this mosque converted into a church.

A characteristic Jesuit baroque church with a superb altarpiece façade. It was built around 1629. Nestled in one of the highest points of the city. The history of the Jesuit church goes back more than three centuries. Tradition has it that it stands on the birthplace of San Ildefonso, Patron Saint of Toledo. Opened for worship in 1718, it has an original altarpiece in the main chapel consisting of a fresco, framed by columns and a frame painted in perspective, in what has come to be called trompe l'oeil. Large baroque altarpieces on either side of the central nave make it a veritable museum of sculpture, many of which tell the story of the Society of Jesus, present in the city for centuries. Its enormous twin towers, more than 50 metres high, offer the visitor a unique experience: to enjoy the most privileged view of the medieval city and the imposing Toledo Cathedral.

The Museum of the Councils and Visigothic Culture is located in the church of San Román, an exponent of early Toledan Mudejar architecture (13th century). The museum contains material remains of the ancient capital of the Visigothic kingdom of Toledo. The church of San Román, home to this museum, is located in one of the highest parts of the city of Toledo. Its origins may date back to the Visigothic period, as a crypt identified as an apse built in that period was discovered under the main chapel during its restoration in 1968. It may have been reused as a mosque at a later date, as several Islamic tombstones were preserved there until 1572. It is documented as a Latin parish church for the first time at the beginning of the 12th century, in 1125, although the current construction corresponds to the building consecrated by Archbishop Jiménez de Rada in 1221. The building shows elements of clear Islamic influence not only in the architecture but also in the decoration of arches, pilasters and windows. It has a basilica floor plan with three naves, the central nave being higher and wider, separated by horseshoe arches with alternating voussoirs framed by the alfiz. The naves are supported by Roman columns attached to brick pillars, on which twelve capitals of different sizes are placed, according to an early 12th-century Toledan Mudéjar style. Above this arcade is a high arcade or tribune with semicircular openings. The polygonal apse of the chancel was originally free-standing, as can be deduced from the arrow slits that may have overlooked the cloister, which disappeared when the convent of San Pedro Mártir was built, and which now remain inside the building. During the 13th century, the chapel in the epistle aisle and the chapel at the foot of the church were added. From 1552 onwards, Alonso de Covarrubias carried out the alterations to enlarge the main chapel, which was adapted to the old octagonal chancel. The altarpiece is the work of Diego Velasco. The walls are masonry between one or two courses of brick. They display a splendid frescoed pictorial ensemble with figurative representations and decorative elements. The tower, inspired by the Caliphate minarets, was built as a free-standing tower at the end of the 13th or beginning of the 14th century, and was joined to the chancel in the 16th century. It consists of a low plain body and a body with open lobed arches and ends in the triple belfry window. The two are separated by a narrower floor of blind lobed arches. The archaeological materials on display, which bear witness to the importance of the Visigothic court in Toledo from the last third of the 6th century onwards, come from the collections of the Museum of Santa Cruz, recent excavations and deposits from the church and from the collections also on deposit at the National Archaeological Museum, which come from ancient excavations in the province of Toledo, and which offer us traces of the beautiful civil and religious buildings constructed in the Visigothic kingdom of Toledo.

The monastery of Santo Domingo el Antiguo is a monastery that dates back to the 6th century , which was rebuilt in the 11th century after the conquest of the city by King Alfonso VI of León. It was the first authorised monastery within the city walls. It was renovated in 1577, and is in the Renaissance mannerist style. The church stands out for the simplicity of its forms. It has a longitudinal floor plan with a transept and presbytery of great development, with a flat chancel, the same as those of the transept. The walls are articulated with Ionic pilasters that support a highly developed entablature. The dome on pendentives is crowned by a lantern. The whole of the convent revolves around two courtyards, the largest of which has been completely rebuilt. The cloister, called Los Laureles, is entirely built in brick and is symmetrical with the corners formed by the union of pillars. On the ground floor, octagonal pillars support the semicircular arches, while on the upper floor the arches are ogee arches. The chapter house and choir are located around the front courtyard. From the courtyard you can access the old choir of the community where the floor tiles are outstanding, with wonderful tiles forming large geometric figures and the large coffered ceiling with Renaissance and Mudejar forms. It houses a large collection of altarpieces and paintings by El Greco, as it was Canon Don Diego del Castillo who brought the Cretan painter to Spain with this commission.

It is a building that housed a pioneering educational foundation created by Cardinal Silíceo in the 16th century and was co-patronised by King Philip II. It functioned as such until the end of the 20th century. For this reason, the building currently belongs to the Archbishopric of Toledo and to Patrimonio Nacional. It preserves a fine baroque church which houses a splendid tomb of Cardinal Siliceo, the founder. You can also visit the courtyard designed by Ventura Rodríguez and the Rectory Hall decorated in 19th century style with a portrait of the founding cardinal. Two paintings by El Greco that are currently in the cathedral belong to the Royal College.

The Church of the Saviour was a Hispano-Muslim mosque whose date of construction has yet to be determined, although some researchers date it to 1041 or possibly earlier. The present church has a basilica floor plan, with three naves of unequal size, the central nave being slightly higher than the side naves. It has a tribune at the foot, which is accessed by a staircase next to the tower. It faces southeast, in the direction of Mecca. An arcade has been preserved in the nave of the Epistle, consisting of seven supports, six of which are Roman columns and one is a Visigothic pillar decorated with miracles of Christ related to the theme of the Resurrection and with geometric motifs, supports crowned with reused Roman and Visigothic capitals and crests. The horseshoe-shaped arches are built of brick, except for the keystone, which is made of ashlar. The tower corresponds in part to an earlier minaret, the top of which was replaced by a Baroque brick coping. It has a square floor plan, with a central pillar with an almost square base, around which the staircase develops. The exterior façade is made of ashlar stone and is inlaid with borders of Visigothic origin as a decorative element.

The church of Santo Tomé or Santo Tomás Apóstol is located in the historic centre of the city of Toledo and was founded after the reconquest of this city by King Alfonso VI of León. It is mentioned in the 12th century as having been built on the site of an ancient 11th-century mosque. At the beginning of the 14th century, as it was in a state of ruin, it was completely rebuilt by Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo, Lord of Orgaz, and the old minaret of the mosque was transformed into a Mudejar-style bell tower. The building has three naves with a transept, covered by barrel vaults and a polygonal apse. The main chapel is a mixture of Mudejar and flamboyant Gothic; the church has a central dome in the shape of an eight-pointed star with painted ribs. On the Gospel side, near the high altar, a door leads to the entrance of the bell tower, which can be climbed by means of a staircase. The church has two Baroque altarpieces in its chapels, one of them Plateresque, and a baptismal font from the 16th century. At the foot of the nave corresponding to the Epistle side, in the so-called chapel of the Conception, is the famous painting by El Greco called "The Burial of the Count of Orgaz", an oil on canvas measuring 4.80 x 3.60 m, painted in Mannerist style by the painter between 1586 and 1588.

This building is a unique 14th century building, an exceptional example of civil architecture of this period, declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1931. Acquired by the state, it was opened to the public as a museum in 1963. The building was part of one of the so-called "main houses" built by the nobility of Toledo in the 14th and 15th centuries, probably by Lope González Palomeque and Mayor Téllez de Meneses, lords of Villaverde between 1346 and 1349. It was later used as a convent, a stone and stone masonry workshop, until it was acquired by the State in 1959. This part of the palace consists of three rooms: a central hall and two rooms at either end, following the Andalusian model of a large rectangular hall flanked by two alcoves. The three rooms are covered with wooden frames of great historical and artistic value. Both the openings and the high interior walls retain much of their polychrome plasterwork decoration of Hispano-Muslim origin, with geometric, vegetal and Arabic epigraphic motifs, as well as symbolic and heraldic elements.

El Greco's house was located in the heart of Toledo's Jewish quarter. It belonged to Samuel ha-Leví, treasurer of King Pedro I of Castile, and later belonged to the Marquis of Villena. In the early 20th c. The remains of this house were demolished, and a new building (200 m from the old one), which had been a Renaissance palace-house from the 20th century, was fitted out. XVI, owned by the Duchess of Arjona, where the artist's paintings were collected and which was opened to the public in 1912. The architect of this refurbishment was the II Marquis de la Vega-Inclán, who completed it with furniture and furnishings from the 16th century. This personage was one of the most important patrons of the first half of the 20th century, who came to impose in our country the fashion of reconstructing the historical environments in which the works exhibited had arisen. Now a house-museum, this is the only one in Spain dedicated to the figure of the painter and its essential aim is to transmit and make society understand the figure of El Greco, as well as the influence of his work and personality in Toledo at the beginning of the 17th century. The new building constitutes a beautiful ensemble that gives an idea of what a wealthy house of the 16th-17th centuries was like, recreating different atmospheres (façade and entrance door to the house, garden, interior courtyard, living room, study, kitchen, chapel, etc.) and all decorated in the taste of the period.

The Synagogue of El Tránsito, or the Synagogue of Samuel ha-Levi, located in the Jewish quarter of Toledo, is a 14th-century building erected under the patronage of Samuel ha-Levi, in the time of King Peter I. It is a synagogue built in the Mudejar style, with a remarkable roof with a pair and knuckle framework, the Great Prayer Room decorated with arches that allow the entrance of outside light and polychrome plaster friezes decorated with vegetal, geometric and epigraphic motifs, as well as heraldic motifs of the crown of Castile. The dimensions of this temple are 23 m long, 9.5 m wide and 17 m high. The building has a rectangular, hall-shaped ground plan, as in many Christian buildings of the period. The elevation is divided into two floors, the lower floor is the area where the ritual area is located and the upper floor still shows the location of the beams that supported the place where the women, hidden from the men by lattices, attended the liturgy. The building currently houses the Sephardic Museum of Toledo, commemorating the Jewish community and their descendants who lived in the Iberian Peninsula until their expulsion in 1492. The permanent exhibition aims to show the history of the Jews in Spain, their arrival in the Iberian Peninsula in Roman times, their cultural golden age during the Middle Ages, their expulsion by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492, the phenomenon of conversion and their persecution by the Inquisition. The exhibition script goes right up to the present day, focusing on the exile and development of the Sephardic communities all over the world.

In the unique space of Roca Tarpeya, the former home and workshop of the sculptor Victorio Macho, a large part of his work is on display. The collection of the Victorio Macho Museum is made up of 91 sculptures and 48 drawings from different artistic periods of the author, with a very broad chronology that goes from 1903 to 1965. Most of the works come from the sculptor's legacy, although the Foundation has managed to expand the collection with new pieces of great value. A significant selection is shown to the public in three spaces. The museum, a small free-standing building, welcomes visitors with three self-portraits by Victorio Macho and the sculpture La Piedad. Next, the gallery of portraits of his friends Unamuno, Ramón y Cajal, Marañón, Iturrino, Menéndez Pidal and Madariaga, together with those of Ramírez Ángel and Alfredo López Casal, both donated by their relatives, leads us to the seated statue of The Mother, which takes over the space with its great expressive power. another series confirms the great portrait quality that characterises the author, a selection of portraits and interesting drawings are exhibited, among which regional types and large nudes stand out. The extraordinary sculpture the Torso Gitano completes the tour. The Crypt, located under the house, is where the sculptor placed the statue of My Brother Marcellus, one of his most beloved works and the one that made him most famous. Alongside the supercilious recumbent, two previous studies of it and other drawings of the family, among other works, are exhibited. In the garden there are still the same works that the sculptor had on display and that characterised the traditional image of Roca Tarpeya, to which some other sculptures have been added to enlarge and enrich the exhibition space. This open-air exhibition includes the grandiose Eva de América, from the Belisario Porras Monument in Panama, among others.

It is a temple built in the Jewish quarter of Toledo in 1180, as a synagogue which, having functioned as such for 211 years, was expropriated and transformed into a church as a result of the pogrom of 1391. In 1550, a reform attributed to Covarrubias was undertaken to install a beaterio, which was in operation at least until 1637. In 1791, the site was adapted to serve as a barracks. Restored from ruin in 1851, it is now used as a tourist attraction. This Mudejar building, created by Moorish stonemasons, is laid out east-west and has a basilica plan, with five narrow naves arranged in staggered heights and separated by pillars supported by horseshoe arches. Although there is a certain contrast between the sobriety of the synagogue's exterior and its elaborate interior, the building presents no little austerity. According to Eastern tradition, it 'lives' inwards. Its architectural elements include plain white walls made of brick, octagonal pillars with tiled plinths, geometric decoration on the friezes and vegetal decoration on the capitals of the pillars. All these characteristics and the layout of the spaces, with their naves formed by a succession of horseshoe arches supported by pillars, tend to recall the typology of a mosque. The thirty-two pillars of this temple are made of brick covered with cement and lime. Ornamented with pine cones and volutes, their capitals are influenced by Romanesque art. Above the horseshoe arches, abstract ornamentation in horizontal friezes prevails, including mouldings with delicate motifs based on the interplay of lines and medallions. The geometric interlacing formed by the lines is of Almohad origin.

The convent of San Juan de los Reyes, consisting of the church and the cloister, is a monastery in Toledo, belonging to the Franciscan Order, which was built under the patronage of Queen Isabella I of Castile. The convent is a monument commemorating the victory of the Catholic Monarchs over King Alfonso V of Portugal at the Battle of Toro and their achievements and political programme. The construction of the complex was commissioned to the architect Juan Guas and his disciple Enrique Egas and the Flemish sculptor Egas Cueman, with work beginning in 1477 and finishing in 1517. The church was completed in 1495 and fully corresponds to the Elizabethan type, also known as Toledan Gothic or Hispano-Flemish; it has a single nave, with chapels between the buttresses with Gothic pinnacles, a choir loft at the base over the vault that serves as a vestibule, and an altar raised on steps. The niche chapels on the sides of the nave, the octagonal dome at the chancel and the excessively large transept are particularly noteworthy. The interior space is perfectly hierarchical, with an area dedicated to the crown (with a fence) separated from the village. The cloister was completed in 1476 (before the church); it is square in plan and has two floors. In the 16th c. another large cloister was built, symmetrical to the previous one and in the Plateresque style, known as the King's Cloister, which disappeared after a fire during the War of Independence. Also, in this period (1808-1814), the cloister that we can see today suffered great damage, the result of looting and pillaging by the French troops, so it was necessary to undertake its complete restoration, which began on 2 May 1883, directed by the illustrious architect Arturo Mélida. The exterior of the building has two entrances, one on the west and the other on the north, which opens onto a large square. A stone cresting runs around the perimeter of both the church and the cloister. On its walls can be seen the chains symbolising the liberation of Christian captives from Granada's war campaign against the Muslims.

It was founded by the duchess widow of Lerma, who restored and refurbished the former Hospital de Tavera, also known as the Hospital de Afuera, and linked it to the House of Medinaceli. The building was erected in 1544 by Cardinal Tavera, who was buried in the Church of the Hospital and whose tomb is the work of Alonso Berruguete. The project was designed by Bartolomé de Bustamante, and the works were continued by Covarrubias, the Vergara family and later by Vandelvira. The museum exhibits important paintings by El Greco and other leading masters: Ribera, Berruguete, Tintoretto, Lucas Jordán, Canaletto, Tristán, Sánchez Coello, etc., which alternate tapestries, furniture and sumptuary objects with a magnificent library. Its famous pharmacy houses an important collection of pottery jars from Talavera and Puente del Arzobispo, with a decorated piece of furniture with a large number of drawers, known as the apothecary's eye, standing out in the collection of jars, vials and bottles. Special mention must be made of the Renaissance courtyard. The courtyards and the south façade were the first to be built. They consist of two floors and both, together with the central gallery, are treated in the same way. The two floors are of equal height: the lower floor is Doric-Tuscan, with round arches, and the upper floor is Ionic, with segmental arches. The decoration bears the clear imprint of Covarrubias: the Doric order with its entablature of metopes and triglyphs has spandrels decorated with black mirrors which, in the upper order, have been replaced by rosettes. The courtyard, one of the most beautiful of the Spanish Renaissance, has a central gallery that connects the entrance hall with the church. The church has a single nave enclosed by a barrel vault with lunettes, a semicircular apse and a shallow, flat transept. The transept is covered with a half-orange dome on pendentives with a drum and a lantern as a crown. The entire church is surrounded by Doric pilasters supporting a continuous entablature. On the outside, the semicircular apse with Doric pilasters stands out for its shape and volume of the building. A large octagonal dome covers the inner half-orange, and on its four sides are four very elongated pyramids that raise the upper part of the church far above the hospital building. The hospital currently houses the headquarters of the Duque de Lerma Foundation and its museum, along with the Nobility Section of the National Historical Archive.

A 14th-century cloistered convent in Toledo, made up of two of the oldest and most complete Mudejar palaces in Toledo. The church consists of two parallel naves covered by alfarjes, in which important works by Jorge Manuel Theotocópuli, Luis Tristán, Diego de Aguilar, Pedro de Cisneros and Juan Bautista Monegro are preserved. The chancel preserves the remains of 15th century mural paintings, 14th century sculptures and the 16th century carved walnut stalls. The cloister of the laurels, in the Mudejar style, with a base of Talavera tiles (16th century), conserves an interesting mural painting (15th century) depicting the Toledo scene of the Virgin imposing the chasuble on Saint Ildefonso. The Orange Tree Courtyard (10th century) is the oldest part of the convent, leading to the entrance to the sala de profundis and the Chapter House which corresponds to the old Islamic house of the alfaqui. The space adjoining the sala de profundis is literally cantilevered over the Santo Domingo shed. At the back is the sisters' work room with large windows and magnificent views of the northern part of the city of Toledo. Throughout the visit you can appreciate interesting works of art, plasterwork, painting, sculpture, ceramics and gold and silverwork of incalculable value.

The convent of Santa Isabel de los Reyes is located in the Plaza de Santa Isabel, a short distance from the cathedral, in the old dyers' quarter and was founded in 1477 by Doña María Suárez de Toledo, under the patronage of Santa Isabel de Hungría. The monastery is made up of several buildings: two Mudejar palaces from the 14th century (belonging to the Suárez de Toledo and Ayala families) and the church of San Antolín converted into a convent church. The church was rebuilt during the reign of Charles I, maintaining the Renaissance façade, built during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs (1500); it is Gothic in style, with a Mudejar-style wooden coffered ceiling. The main altarpiece of the church is in the Plateresque style and features high reliefs and a large number of carvings. At its feet, there is a tiled plinth, dating from the 16th century . In the Epistle nave there is an altarpiece from the 16th century, the same period as the main altarpiece, dated 1572. At the foot of the church, the nuns' choir was also built in the 16th century, where Sister María la Pobre, the convent's founder, is buried, with an outstanding baseboard of Talavera tiles and the choir stalls. One of the cloisters, the Infirmary, has a square, two-storey plan, with semicircular arches on brick pillars that give access to the halls, with plasterwork and alfarjes from the 14th century . On the alfarje that covers the portico that surrounds this courtyard you can see the castles of the de Toledo or the wolves of the Orozcos. Other parts of the convent complex are: the patio de los Naranjos, the Chapter House, the door of the palace of Pedro Suárez de Toledo, the former palace of Inés de Ayala, the Founder's room and the remains of the façade of the palace of Juana Enríquez. At present this complex of buildings houses in some of its outbuildings, a workshop dedicated to the production of damascene (goldsmith's work), a typical craft of the city of Toledo.

The convent of Santo Domingo el Real is located in the northern part of the city of Toledo, on the outer perimeter of the cornice that marks the boundary of Toledo's rocky outcrop in this sector. It was founded in 1363 by Doña Inés García Suárez de Meneses and was given the nickname of El Real because distinguished ladies belonging to the royal lineage were admitted there. Its main entrance is on Calle de la Merced, where the convent's porter's lodge leads to the rest of the structure, which is structured around three courtyards: the Rosal, the Moral and the S. Martín de Porres courtyards. The building is made up of independent, interrelated blocks, which have been incorporated into the main core over the course of time. The first was at the end of the 14th century, when the old church and other outbuildings were built in the Mudejar style, although the major alterations were carried out in the 16th century . In the middle of that century the choir was transformed, and between 1566 and 1575 a new church was built, following a design that seems to correspond to the hand of the sculptor and architect Diego de Velasco de Ávila. In 1583, the so-called cloister of La Mona was built. The church is located in the Plaza de Santo Domingo el Real and is accessed through a portico supported by four Doric stone columns on high bases, which protects three lintelled entrance doors. It has a single nave and a rectangular floor plan with three niche chapels on each side. It has a choir at the foot of the church and a pseudo-elliptical dome that covers the large rectangular space of the central nave. On the outside, the masonry work is of brickwork between brick tiles and the roofs are covered with curved or Arabic tiles.

The convent of the Comendadoras de Santiago is currently located at the northern end of what was once the monastery of Santo Domingo el Real. It was founded in the middle of the 14th century on the houses donated by Dª Inés García Meneses. Gradually, the old dependencies grew, and during the 16th century, they were used as a place of worship; when the great works were carried out, mainly the church and the cloister; The convent includes the old refectory of Santo Domingo, which pre-dates the works of the 16th century The most outstanding feature is the alfarje from the end of the 15th century . Today, the church and the lower choir are located in this room. The church still preserves the Renaissance pulpit and its lack of a door to the street indicates that this convent was part of other earlier buildings. Also part of the convent is the cloister, which was designed by Diego de Alcántara, after the work on the new Dominican church began in 1565. Called this one of La Mona, it has a quadrangular ground plan, with two floors, the lower one with arches on paired columns and the second one with lintels. The galleries are covered with beams, separated by partitions. In the corners of the courtyard are the respective altarpieces. The walls of this cloister are covered with tiles, made according to Alcántara's design.

The convent of the Discalced Carmelites must have been built between 1643 and 1655. Its rooms are arranged around a courtyard, the main floor of which is formed by four galleries with barrel vaults with lunettes, except for the corner sections which are covered with groined vaults; everything is very simple, functional and has whitewashed parameters. The church is rectangular in plan, with three naves, the central nave twice as wide as the side naves and covered with a half-barrel vault. It has a wide transept with short arms and a dome on pendentives. It has a high choir, located at the foot of the church, whose access from the outside is a triple archway of unequal height on pillars. The exterior is, in general, of exposed brick with masonry louvres, cubic volumes and rectilinear profiles, with a quadrangular dome masking the cupola. The façade is stone, of the altarpiece type - body and attic with niche - with supports in the form of Tuscan pilasters.

Chromatic is the name given to the colour scale and the musical scale. Hence the name of this museum located in the historic centre of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The Cromática is a mixture of museum and art gallery, where music and painting are fused by more than 30 artists of different styles and nationalities, who use musical instruments as their canvas. A place full of history, nooks and crannies, where you can lose yourself while tasting a good wine, listening to live music and enjoying a collection of high quality musical instruments, converted into true works of art, which you can also purchase if you wish. Located in what used to be part of the ancient Arab Palaces of Galiana and which for more than 500 years has been the Convent of the Immaculate Conception. This convent originally belonged to the Franciscan Conception, Franciscans who founded it in 1280. It was enlarged thanks to the efforts of Queen María de Molina and in 1501 the Franciscans left the site to move to San Juan de los Reyes. It was ceded by Isabella the Catholic to the Conceptionist community founded in 1484 by Saint Beatriz de Silva. With the arrival of the Conceptionists, the convent was greatly transformed. It has, therefore, two clearly differentiated construction stages, the Franciscan (c. XIII-c. XV) and the one corresponding to the Order of the Conception (c. XVI). Firstly, the primitive church, the lower cloister and the lower choir were built, and then the choir and the upper cloister. The church had a central nave and two side aisles with chapels. The space formerly occupied by the central nave now corresponds to the entrance courtyard to the church. The building dates back to the 16th century with an apse built in masonry with Romanesque-Mudejar style brickwork. Inside, the church has six bays divided by attached pilasters. The cloister of the convent is rectangular with chamfered pillars and pointed arches resting on them.

The convent of San Clemente is considered to be one of the first monasteries in Toledo founded outside the city walls, after the reconquest of the city by Alfonso VI in 1085. Later, in the time of Alfonso VII, it was moved to some private houses in the interior, which over time grew and were transformed until they covered an entire block. It is currently occupied by Cistercian nuns. The convent is of large dimensions and its ground plan reflects this gradual growth, caused by the juxtaposition of elements. The difference in height between the different areas of the block produces a different number of floors and two courtyards appear as organising elements. The church is located parallel to the axis of San Clemente street with direct access from it. It has a single nave divided into two bays, with plastered walls decorated with murals depicting Gospel passages. The supports are made up of continuous walls on which pointed arches are placed, creating star-shaped ribbed vaults. In 1534, the presbytery was reformed by Alonso de Covarrubias, adopting an octagonal shape, with the octagonal vault and the vault of ribbed vaulting. The chapter house is a room attached to the gospel wall of the church, whose roof is a flat wooden ceiling or alfarje. It also has a set of very interesting tiles. The floor is decorated with 16th-century groined tiles forming geometric figures interspersed with red bricks. A large tiled bench runs around the room and the altar is made of the same material. The convent also has several courtyards, including one called the courtyard of the Processions, which is the real heart of the convent, through which you can access the choir, the church and the chapter house. The traces of it are by Covarrubias, with Nicolás de Vergara el Mozo y Monegro continuing its construction as contractor. It has two floors in Tuscan style, the first with semicircular arches and the second with architraves and stone columns on pedestals. The other courtyard is that of the Refectory, which is the work of the master José Ortega and is later than the previous one. It also has two levels, the lower one with arches on stone columns and a second one with architraves. To the north of the previous courtyard is the refectory, a very long room, also decorated with groined tiles. The convent has two main entrances: one leading to the church and the other to the convent. The first is the work of Alonso de Covarrubias, somewhat earlier than that of the convent; it is made of white Regachuelo stone and consists of a semicircular arch resting on two balustraded columns, decorated with putti, garlands and headed tondos, exponents of the Plateresque style. The second is more sober and was contracted in 1612 by Toribio González, according to Monegro's traces. It is architraved with two Ionic columns supporting the entablature, with the coat of arms of Castile and León and a split pediment sheltering a niche with the titular saint. Currently, a part of the convent (northern area) has been ceded to the Excma. Diputación de Toledo. It is a space articulated around two twin courtyards that have been restored to serve as the headquarters of the San Clemente Cultural Centre, a museum that houses a library, a restoration unit and an exhibition centre.

The Cuevas de Hércules (Caves of Hercules) are underground vaulted spaces dating from the Roman period, located mainly at number 2 and number 3 of the Callejón de San Ginés, under a building that occupies the site of what was the church of San Ginés until 1841. This space, which was used in Roman times as a water supply reservoir, was built in two construction phases and is covered with a barrel vault made of ashlar. Of the original rectangular tank, almost certainly built in the High-Imperial period (probably around the second half of the 1st century) and which had the appearance of a large open-air tank with an overflow on the rim, the first half of the wall facing the alley of San Ginés, made of opus caementicium and covered with opus signinum, has been preserved. The second half of the northeast wall facing the street was built in the second Roman phase; a wall was built, in opus quadratum of seven courses of ashlars of varying sizes, which is attached to the northeast side wall of the hydraulic structure of the first phase, and which will gradually increase in size from southwest to southeast, creating a new line of orientation to the wall, which will generate the trapezoidal plan that the nave will have.

These baths give us a glimpse of the monumentality that Toledo achieved, in imitation of the capital of the Empire, Rome. The use of lime concrete -opus caementicium- or the arch formed by stone voussoirs, were true revolutions in engineering in Hispania. Here we can see part of the system for supplying clean water to the city, and for supplying the largest public buildings, over which a spa or thermal complex was built.

The Oratory of San Felipe Neri is located in the Plaza de los Postes or Plaza de Amador de los Ríos, in the centre of the historic centre of Toledo. This is a Gothic chapel belonging to the old parish church of San Juan Bautista (now disappeared) that once occupied this square. The chapel (now the oratory) was located in the gospel wall of the church and was ordered to be built by Don Sancho Sánchez de Toledo, and was governed by the confraternity of the so-called "Escuela de Cristo". The chapel is built in Gothic style and basically consists of a large rectangular space where the chancel opens up, with a very shallow depth. The space is covered with a groined vault. The exterior walls are made of masonry, and the entrance is through a simple granite door. The wall still shows the large pointed arch that allowed passage from the old church to the chapel.

It is located to the north of the city, in the so-called Vega Baja; it was built around the second half of the 1st century A.D. He was a chariot racer at the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and devoted himself to chariot racing. It is oriented in a NW-SW direction. Its plan, like that of all circuses, is a rectangle with two straight, almost parallel sides, one end in the shape of a hemicycle and the other end slightly curved, in the shape of a circle, which forms the carceres or boxes from which the chariots were brought out. The space where the competitions or arena take place is delimited by the podium which determines its dimensions, giving rise to a major axis of approximately 408 m and a transversal axis, which in the area of the hemicycle is given by the bowstring of 86.20 m while in the carceres it would be narrower, about 82-83 m. The space above is divided longitudinally by the spina, or central barrier, around which the chariots or charioteers made the seven prescribed turns. Around the arena there is a grandstand or cavea, which occupies the hemicycle and the two straight sides, while at the opposite end, as mentioned above, the carceres are located. The graderio consists of a maenianum primum or lower tier and a maenianum summun or upper tier.

It was inaugurated in 1919 and stands out for its neo-Mudejar style. Located to the east of the city, most of the construction work was carried out between 1916 and 1917, the architect being Narciso Claveria. It occupies an area of 12,600 m2 and is made of stone masonry with brick walls. It consists of a two-storey central pavilion flanked by two smaller side wings with stepped crenellations. The front and rear façades of the main nave of the building are occupied by ten poly-lobed arches, five on each side symmetrically facing each other, reaching two storeys high. The interior of this nave is covered with a large coffered ceiling, with inlaid woodwork and marquetry. The tiles that cover the base of the walls and the iron grilles, railings and lamps are also elements that decorate this room. On the outside, the roof is hipped, while the one covering the platform is supported by cast iron columns. There are three other smaller buildings on either side of the main building, which are free-standing but in the same architectural style as the main building. On the left side of the station is a square, five-sided, brick tower, decorated with a set of poly-lobed arches and a clock on all four sides. The entire enclosure is enclosed by a magnificent iron fence, the work of Julio Pascual.

It is a monumental entrance opened in the walls of the northern façade of the city of Toledo. There is some debate as to its origin and antiquity, which may be Arab or Mudejar in origin. It underwent reconstruction in the mid-16th century, which must have begun around 1540 and was carried out by Nicolás de Vergara the Elder, Juan de Benavides, Eugenio Sánchez and around 1547-1548 by Alonso de Covarrubias. The works were finally completed in 1576. The gate is made up of two independent bodies with two high crenellated walls that join them, forming a courtyard between them, where a statue of Charles V is located. The outer side of the gate is formed by a semicircular arch with cushioned ashlars, above which is a large coat of arms of the "Imperial City", with its double-headed eagle, as well as a pediment with a sculpture of a guardian angel. This entrance is flanked by two large circular towers. The body facing the town has another round-arched gateway flanked by two square towers topped by pyramidal roofs.

The Puerta del Sol is a building located on the north side of the city of Toledo, which existed in the 1st century AD attached to the Roman wall in the form of a simple tower of large ashlars Subsequent modifications altered its original appearance. The Muslims converted it into a powerful square tower; in the last third of the AH 6th century, it was converted into a tower. XIV, with the archbishop Pedro Tenorio, it appears as one of the most important entrance gates to the city; in the 16th century the corregidor Gutiérrez Tello decorates the north façade with the large marble medallion, with the scene of the imposition of the chasuble on St. Ildefonso and in the 17th century paintings with the figures of the moon and the sun (hence its present name) were added. Today we can see a building in which the Toledan Mudejar style predominates (made with brickwork, forming geometric shapes, with a series of intertwined blind arches), on a base of materials from earlier periods such as large granite ashlars (in the lower parts and the jambs), ashlar (in the walls), or the horseshoe and pointed arches of the openings. Defensive elements include the attics (rooms whose floor has an elongated and narrow opening) located above the entrances to the gate, the machicolations (cantilevered walls supported by corbels or buttresses) protruding from the outer walls and the rake or large openwork metal grille ending in points, in the form of a doorway.

The gate of Alfonso VI is an access to Toledo on its northern side, opened in the medieval wall. It is also known as the "Puerta Antigua de Bisagra", named after its original name Bib-xacra, according to 12th-century texts, which means "door of the Sagra". Its construction dates back to the 10th century, taking advantage of the remains of previous buildings, although various modifications were made to the upper part in the Mudejar style not earlier than the 13th century. At the time when the city was under Islamic rule, the gate was the main entrance to the city from the Vega. Later, after the construction of the New Bisagra Gate, it remained closed, opening only for special occasions, and gradually fell into disrepair until it was restored and reopened in 1905, centuries later. Architecturally speaking, it has a rectangular floor plan with a main horseshoe arch in the centre, surrounded by an alfiz (moulding or frame that surrounds the outside of the arch) and crossed by a very characteristic lintel that gives it a very original appearance. Various types of equipment were used in the construction of this gateway from different periods: old Visigothic ashlars made of granite are used to cover the lower parts of the gate, the pillars that support the interior arches and the high plinth and the horseshoe arch voussoirs of its north façade; Brick of Arab origin is used exclusively for the vaults and arches; and the walls of the façades are made of brickwork in the Mudéjar style of Toledo (a mixed construction that alternates masonry with brick courses to give consistency to the walls).

The Cambrón Gate is one of the oldest gates in the city. Up to the c. XV was called the "Gate of the Jews" because of its proximity to the Jewish quarter or also the "Gate of Saint Leocadia", patron saint of the city. From 1442 onwards it appears with its current name, apparently due to the "cambronera" plant that grew on top of it. The gate has a very ancient origin, apparently of Visigothic origin. Today it retains part of the Muslim-era structure with a Renaissance-style exterior, the result of remodelling carried out in the 16th century . The masters Hernán González, Diego de Velasco and Juan Bautista Monegro participated in these works. The gate has two façades, an inner one facing the city and an outer one facing the fertile plain of the Tagus River, each with two towers. In the centre is a large rectangular courtyard. In the upper area were the guardian's quarters. The lower part of the interior façade has an arch between Doric columns with a type of Serlian cushioning. In the centre of this façade is the large royal coat of arms above an urn with the image of Saint Leocadia. On the façade facing the fertile plain of the Tagus River, above the semicircular arch, there are two arches in the form of a balcony below a large royal coat of arms, set in an aedicule with a split pediment and two figures of Gothic kings. The towers are built entirely of brick at the top and topped with slate spires.

The Vado Gate, built between the end of the 11th century and the beginning of the 12th century, is located in the Antequeruela district of Toledo, which has a great pottery-making tradition. The part of the gate that is currently visible from the street corresponds to its upper body. The main façade is made of taped masonry and has four windows with semicircular arches; there are three windows on the north side and two on the south, where there is also a buttress of ashlar masonry. The doorway has a straight entrance, preceded by a small portico, sheltered between the two arches of the main façade and defended by an open porch between them. The outer arch is a semicircular arch made of brick, while the inner arch is a horseshoe arch made of gneiss, although one of its imposts is made of sandstone.

It is from the Islamic period onwards that there are traces and documentation of its existence. Its fortified layout coincides with the one that remains today. It has all the elements that ensured its defence at the time, such as towers, gates (Cambrón, Bisagra, Valmardón, Alcantara, Alfonso VI, etc.), watchtowers, bridges and small fortified redoubts in the surrounding area. It can still be seen today that the layout of these defences followed the Hispano-Muslim pattern with its citadel, medina and suburbs, each with their respective walled enclosures. The walls are built using Islamic masonry with granite ashlars of varying sizes from earlier constructions (Roman and Visigothic periods), as well as other elements resulting from the numerous repairs that the defences have undergone since then. The canvases are formed by a double wall, filled with other pieces of different sizes, and then mortared with lime mortar and sand. Its towers are square or rectangular in plan. It has six sectors, the first of which corresponds to the northern section of the wall preserved between the Alcántara and Cambrón gates. The second covers the section between the Cambrón gate and the S. Martín bridge. The third is identified with the races of S. Sebastián with its Iron Tower as an outstanding element. The fourth corresponds to the walled enclosure that stretches from the Alcazar to the Alcántara Gate. The fifth sector corresponds to a part of the northern suburb or Bisagra which was later known as the suburb of S. Isidro or Antequeruela and finally the sixth which includes another second part of the northern suburb known as the suburb of Santiago or the neighbourhood of La Granja.

It stands where the Tagus River narrows as it passes through Toledo on its eastern side, at the foot of the Castle of San Servando and next to the Alcántara Gate. It is a Roman building erected in the 3rd century AD which became a crossing point for the Roman roads that crossed the river and entered the city. It has been rebuilt on numerous occasions, one of which took place in the 10th century by Alef, son of Mohomat Alameri, in 997, according to an inscription. It takes its present name from this period, from the Arabic "Alcántara" which means bridge. Later, during the rest of the Middle Ages, it was an obligatory entrance for all pilgrims, also exercising the function of control of merchandise and of portage, a task carried out by the corregidor and mayor of the city. Under the reign of Alfonso X it suffered serious damage and was rebuilt again (13th century). The western tower belongs to the latter period, later modified and decorated under the reign of the Catholic Monarchs and whose coat of arms decorate its walls. It originally had two towers, located at the eastern and western ends of the bridge, and three spans, although one of them was walled up in the Islamic period and replaced by the opening of a small horseshoe arch. The eastern tower was replaced by a baroque triumphal arch in 1721, given its ruinous state. The arch, built in brick and stone, is surrounded by a giant order of pilasters and decorated with garlands, topped by an attic that develops in the form of a curved pediment decorated with a niche with the image of the Immaculate Conception.

It is a late medieval construction, an example of military architecture, which stands over the Tagus River as it passes through Toledo, on its western side, opposite the Alcántara Bridge. It was originally built in the 13th century, taking its name from the parish of San Martín, to whose jurisdiction it belonged. It is likely that the Alcántara Bridge was used as a model for its construction, although more spans had to be designed due to the greater width of the Tagus at this point in its course. In the mid-14th century, around 1355, Pedro I of Castile reportedly set fire to the gates of the bridge and in 1368 it was damaged again. It was restored by Archbishop Pedro Tenorio around 1390, who had the great central arch and the two crenellated towers at either end built. The bridge is made entirely of ashlar and consists of five slightly pointed arches, the central one being much larger. The tower furthest from the city is hexagonal in plan, organised internally in spaces covered by ribbed brick vaults. On its façade there is a sculpture of San Julián. During the reign of Charles II of Spain, it was renovated and its entrances widened, and a century later it was paved. An inscription remains from both alterations on the inner wall of the entrance tower, with the imperial coat of arms flanked by two seated kings.

Panoramic view to the south of the historic centre, on the other side of the river and higher than the city itself. From this place you can contemplate a beautiful and spectacular view of the city of the Three Cultures. An obligatory stop for any visitor, not only to see these beautiful views, but also to rest and enjoy a panoramic view of the beauty of a city surrounded by the Tagus, one of the longest rivers in Spain.

The path runs parallel to the banks of the Tagus River. A route around the historic centre of Toledo to get to know the natural environment where the city of Toledo is located.