Our tour with Javi was split over two days -- two hours on Wednesday afternoon, and then three hours on Thursday morning. That worked out perfectly, as we spent most of the two hours in the air conditioned Cathedral on the hot afternoon, then spent the cooler time of the day going around more of Toledo on Thursday.
Unlike Madrid, where photos inside were not allowed in lots of place, every place in Toledo allows photography, including the Cathedral (no flash, but that's fine).
Before going inside, Javi spent a little time with us outside of the Cathedral (in the shade), filling us in on the construction of the Cathedral, as well as a bit on the history of the city, including the tensions between the royalty and the church that led to the capital of Spain being moved by the king to Madrid. Turns out he was tired of being eclipsed by the power and money of the church.
The cathedral was built on a small Visigoth Christian church until the Islamic Moors conquered the city and built a huge mosque on the site. While Toledo was reconquered in 1085, the mosque stood until 1226, when it was dismantled and construction began on the cathedral.
Many people say it is the finest cathedral in all of Spain (there is a LOT of competition for that honor), and the most amazing Gothic cathedral in Europe. It is famous for its five-story Gothic altarpiece, almost too big to take in, a stunning Baroque skylight, a jaw-dropping ten foot tall golden monstrance (I'll wait while you Google "monstrance"), Renaissance-era frescoes, and classic paintings by El Greco and other nearly-as-famous artists.
Our visit took nearly two hours, but I never lost interest, as Javi expertly took us from place to place within the 200 foot wide by 400 foot long church. We spent time gawking at the High Altar, which is 80 feet high and made out of real gold on wood. A total of 27 Flemish, French, and Spanish artists worked on it for seven years, carving wood, painting, or creating the architecture.
Cardinal Mendoza's tomb is on one side; he helped Isabel and Ferdinand conquer the Moors in Granada, was a backer of Columbus, and oversaw the completion of the Cathedral by 1493.
The choir is ornate, with 120 carved-wood stalls. The stalls depict the Reconquista, showing one city recaptured per wooden stall, with the taking of Granada being the key moment.
Despite the amazing wood carvings of the battle scenes, the highlight of the choir area is the statue of Mary and baby Jesus, as Mary smiles sweetly and Jesus, smiling broadly, tweaks her chin. It is an unusually happy depiction of the two.
A theme of the cathedral, depicted in many parts of the church, shows Mary coming down from heaven in the seventh century to give Saint Ildefonso a holy robe. That symbolizes that Toledo is the spiritual capital of a young and growing vastly more powerful Spain.
Behind the high altar is an amazing skylight that was cut through the ceiling in the 1700s. The light through onto beautiful Baroque carvings (sometimes Baroque can be a bit too much, but on the back of the high altar, the marble statutes radiate joy and energy. At the summer solstice, the sun pours through to light the main altarpiece from behind, apparently a stunning effect.
The Sacristy holds many pieces of great art, essentially doubling as a museum. Carol is concerned that any moron could just walk in and damage any one of the 19 El Grecos paintings, as well as works by de Goya, Titian, Velazquez, Caravaggio, Bellini, and other greats I've never heard of.
(Editor's Note: Well, I'm surprised you've heard of all those you listed. Writer: You think you're surprised? Think how I feel!)
The cloisters were disappointingly underwhelming, as they keep visitors separated by netting from the cloisters. Portugal kicks Spain's butt when it comes to cloisters, and I have no idea why. You would think Spain would care more than the country does about cloisters, but not so much.
I'm skipping around, but I mentioned the monstrance earlier in the Treasury. It is so dominant and jaw-dropping, that I'm not sure I noticed anything else in the Treasury. A monstrance is used to parade the holy communion wafer (the host) around the city during the festival of Corpus Christi. It was built in 1517 by Enrique de Arfe, it is 10 feet high and 430 pounds of gold and silver. It is unreal, and although we did not visit it last, it is fitting to mention the monstrance last. I can't imagine there is a more amazing one in the world.
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