Toledo

Last weekend, I took a day trip to Toledo. Though I didn't get to see as much of the city as I would have liked to, I still managed to get a good look at some of the city and get a grasp on the history and significance of the place.

The oldest Toledo has been put at is as a Phoenecian settlement in 540BC. When the Romans found the city, it was already famous for its sword making and steel working abilities. Toledo also served as the capital of the Visigothic empire, starting with Leovigild.

Under the Arab caliphate, the city encountered what many consider to be its golden age. During this time, the Arabs allowed religious tolerance and free flow of ideas, a combination which made Toledo a center of knowlege that helped Spain gain respect among the other major European nations as an intellectual center. For centuries, Arabs, Christians, and Jews coexisted in the city, sharing ideas.

When Alfonso VI took Toledo, he made it the capital of his empire, and launched the first major Christian offensives of the Reconquista from there. However, when Philip II moved the capital to Madrid, the city slowly went into decline.

When I went to Toledo, I had the chance to see the Cathedral. I was mostly impressed by the sheer size of it. After asking a local where the cathedral was, he pointed our group in a certain direction. After only a couple minutes walk, we could see the spire of the cathedral dominating the sky ahead. The inside was just as impressive, with cielings which seemed to be at least 50 feet high. The decorations and paintings were absolutely stunning, some covered richly in gold and silver.