Bolger Family Travels: The Rest Of The Toledo Tourist Bracelet Stops

After bidding a fond farewell to Javi, and having lunch, we headed to three of the remaining four stops on the Tourist Bracelet. Just down the street from our apartment is the Iglesia de Salvador.

It's a relatively non-descript church dating from around 1041 (or earlier), with remains from Visigoth worship and even a 2nd Century Roman church have been found. The church is only of modest interest, but we walked past it many times so I figured we should go in.

We climbed the tower but essentially had no view. The highlight of the tower is that Carol saw a baby bird in a nest built into a very small opening. Anyhow, I took some pictures in the church but nothing worth posting, so. . .we'll just move on to the next stop.

Climbing the tower was a mistake, as we should have saved the exertion for the next stop, the Church of San Ildefonso. Apparently climbing the 131 step tower affords wonderful views of Toledo (unlike the previous tower, he writes bitterly). Between the heat, the hills, Carol not feeling 100% as Tinto de Verano at lunch was an iffy choice in the heat, and climbing a relatively short tower but getting no payoff, we choose not to climb the tower at San Ildefonso. We chose poorly.

In which we were admonished by a Crusader.

Despite that blown call by me, the rest of the church was interesting. Started in 1629, this Jesuit Baroque church took over 100 years to build. Ironically, the Jesuit church was finished just two years before they were expelled from Spain by the King. They did not recover the church until last century.

That said, I did take photos and I will let the pictures tell the story:

There are angels among us. . .

The Holy Spirit

We tried walking to the Puerta del Sol, a Moorish gate into the city that was built, well, when the Moors controlled Toledo (this whole history thing isn't that hard, except when it is). But GPS led us to a dead end, where we could see a chunk of the Muslim gate (much of it was obscured), but actually getting there was impossible from where we were. Between the heat and the hills, we weren't going to try another way. As a friend once told, "You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run."

(Editor's Note: You knew Kenny Rogers? Writer: Oh, you know the song too? Shoot, thought I could sneak one by you. Editor: You'll do anything for a cheap laugh.)

So instead we traipsed back up the hill, then cut over, and back down the same hill, different road to the small but captivating Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz. For reasons of brevity, I will call "la Luz."

This small church started life as a mosque, built in the year 999 (for those bad at math, that means it is 1,024 years old. For those good at math, it's the same age as last sentence). It was built for those entering or leaving the city, as it was right by the (wait for it!). . .Puerta del Sol! Yup, the unattainable gate was just around the corner from La Luz!

Anyhow, the place is pretty small, but it has several memorable aspects to it, including multiple beautiful keyhole arches in the Moorish style, some recycled Visigoth capitals, ribbed vaults, a beautiful garden/patio, and the piece de resistance, Caliphate-style horseshoe arches with two color brick layers that look much like the famed arches of La Mezquita in Cordoba.

The garden/patio has beautiful flowers, sculpture, and is centered around a simple, yet mesmerizing fountain. There is a viewpoint that gives a better view of Puerta del Sol. After we finished, I walked down the hill a bit more, through an unknown gate (well, the gate is known, but I just don't know the name and I'm NOT going to work to find it), for unobstructed views of the Puerta del Sol. As we had go through any number of gates already, I didn't bother to pass through it, as it would have added to the amount of hill I would need to climb.