Toledo’s Cathedral of the Reconquista
When the Moors were driven out of Spanish cities in the medieval age, the Catholic church began a building program as grand as the one the Moors had left behind.
In Toledo, just outside Madrid, the church set about constructing a giant cathedral to rival the huge Alcazar or fortress built by the Moors.
Since then the city has embraced the country’s Catholic heritage and commemorated the Reconquista – the point in 1492 when the last Moorish rulers in Spain were defeated
Toledo may now be known as the City of Three Faiths – Christianity , Islam and Judaism – but most sites here nowadays reflect its profound Catholic faith. The Jewish quarter covered a quarter of the old city but only two of the ten synogogues that were here survive and only two mosques
The cathedral here is now one of the grandest and most beautiful cathedrals in Spain and the world – the spiritual heart of the Spanish church.
The first stone of this huge structure was laid in 1226 and construction lasted three centuries with the completion of the last vailts in 1493. The long period of construction explains the cathedral’s mixture of styles – from pure French gothic to its Mudejar decorative interior.
Highlights include a group of religious paintings by El Greco in the Sacristy including the acclaimed Denuding of Christ .Also here works by other great Spanish masters including Velasquez .
There is also a captured Moorish battle standard from the Battle of Salado in 1340.
The High Altar is one of the most beuautiful in Spain and in the Choir,the carvings on the wooden lower stalls depict the fall of Granada .
