Toledo

As I mentioned in my previous entry, two of my flatmates invited me to join them for a day trip to Toledo, only a 30 minute high-speed train ride south of Madrid. We took the first train out in the morning and the last one back at night. We spent the day covering as much of the city as possible. It's a really beautiful place that has many buildings that have been conserved or maintained in their original form from the Golden Age of Toledo (approx 8th-15th century). Madrid is also full of interesting and varied architecture, but Toledo, with it's narrow, winding streets, spectacular vistas, and blend of Christian and Muslim architecture, has a very different feel--the history is something palpable. We were so impressed with just the train station, we joked that we would just stay there all day (the train station is obviously not that old--built 1920--but was built in the same style as the city).


























Toledo is known for many things. For centuries, it was (and still is) a center for steel and weapons manufacture. Thus, every souvenir shop proudly displayed its knives, swords, and armor. A bit disconcerting, to be honest:-). Toledo is also, apparently, a top producer of Marzapan. A few stores had huge Marzipan replicas of the main Cathedral.

Toledo is also a city that historically enjoyed a coexistence of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish cultures. This period of religious tolerance (" la conviviencia") began when Toledo was under Islamic rule and lasted until the expulsion of the Muslims and Jews during the Inquisition (1492, the same year Columbus 'discovered' America for Spain). You can see these influences everywhere, in the architecture, the folk art, and even in the Cathedrals (more on that later). There is still a "Jewish quarter" in Toledo that contains two synagogues, both of which were converted into churches (the synagogues have names like Santa Maria la Blanca:-)). One was later refurbished to resemble the original synagogue, and is now a museum of the history of Toledo's Jews. It was nteresting to see how colorful and lively the Sephardic (Mediteranean and North African Jews) culture was portrayed--a big contrast to the more austere and solemn Ashkenazi (Eastern European Jews) culture. Walking through this museum highlighted how similar Sephardic and Moorish culture really was (is?).




























One of the main tourist attractions in Toledo is the Cathedral, and the word that comes to mind to describe the Cathedral is random. To begin with, it is a huge structure, with small capillas (chapels) dedicated to saints encircling the main altars. I say random not only because of the mix of mediums (sculpture, painting, fresco, wood carvings, gold), but the mix of symbolism and styles. Some areas appeared positively pagan; dragons, unicorns and other mythological imagery intertwined with biblical figures. Some areas appeared, at least to me, to resemble a mosque more than a church due to the use of blue at the apex of the dome and the reliance on patterns. The choir area where the ceiling-high organ resided had a continuous wood carving stretching across every chair depicting the battle of Granada when the Spanish reconquered the city from the Moors (that has admittedly religious undertones, but it felt very temporal for a church). The main altar is an elaborate, floor to ceiling depiction of events from the New Testament in the Gothic style (according to the guidebook:-)). Finally, the church also had a small collection of El Greco paintings and an exhibit of bishop's robes through the ages, and on top of everything there was a military wedding going on in one of the chapels, in the midst of all the tourists and loudspeaker announcements warning us not to take pictures using a flash.































As we walked around the vast Cathedral, my friend commented that she always feels conflicted visiting Cathedrals like this because of their ostentatiousness. She doesn't consider herself a religious person, but she sees hypocrisy in emphasizing gold and grandeur when Christianity preaches humility and depicts Christ as living in poverty. With all the time and effort and expensive materials that went into these towering monuments, she wondered how many people in Toledo were starving as the Cathedral was being built. It's one thing to visit these places as a tourist and be in awe of the sheer magnitude and artistry involved, it is another to think about them from this kind of perspective. As someone who is very interested in how cultures express their religiosity, I was surprised to realize that I had never given much thought to the inherent tension between showing devotion in materialistic ways and being humble before one's god. I know this isn't a new concept/issue by any means, but the way my friend phrased it really struck me, and I couldn't stop thinking about it the rest of the day.

There are also two Mosques ("mesquitas") in Toledo, but unfortunately they were closed to visitors by the time we reached them. We had a dinner on one of the side streets, saw a bit more of the city (one of the main plazas, the military academy, more marzipan...), and walked back to the train station at sunset. Ben, one of the three friends I traveled with, was the official photographer and took some amazing pictures around Toledo with a very high quality-camera--they are too big to upload onto this blog, but if anyone is interested I'd be happy to send you the highlights:-).


Stay tuned to for tales of not-teaching, flamenco in the subway, and a night in white. . .