CavaTravel.com: Travel Info: Toledo, Spain

View of Río Tajo, Toledo

The city of El Greco, where one can see his marvelous Entierro del Conde de Orgaz... the city on the hill whose mystic vistas he painted... the city of Santa María la Blanca, a chapel historically used as Synagogue, Mosque and Church... Toledo is one of the time-tested gems of Castile, formerly a center of trade and scholarship, and today a city that breathes past and present in one breath... [Full Profile]

Featured Sights
The city itself is a sight to remember, an enclave of closely compiled buildings from various historical periods, perched atop a hill and flanked by the Río Tajo.

Museums / Culture
Toledo is rich in art, artisanry and cultural nuance. The damasquinado art, various colors of gold inlaid into blackened steel, is still practiced by dedicated local artisans.

Featured Favorite: El Greco

See the breathtaking mural, El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz, by El Greco, at the Church of Santo Tomé, right in the heart of the city.

Also see his Casa Museo, a gallery of great works on display in the very rooms he once called home...

On Foot
Starting from the Plaza de Zocodóver, wind your way through the city's fabled streets, around the cathedral, to El Greco's home, and down to the high embankment that overlooks the river.

Architecture
Toledo is an entry from central Spain into the South, and as such boasts a great deal more Moorish influence than some of its Castilian cousins.

Restaurants
The Old Center of Toledo is laced with family-run bars and restaurants, and you can find everything Spanish from paella to tapas, to the café con leche, within walking distance of the clutch of shops atop the hill.

Hotels
Hotels range from upscale, costly affairs to the cozy one-star pensión, which offers a spare but effective base for sightseeing.

Transportation
RENFE, Spain's rail system will take you directly to Toledo from Madrid, along the gritty amber Castilian landscape that spawned the incomparable Don Quijote de la Mancha.

A Brief History: from

Toledo was founded by the Romans, who named it Toletum, and it quickly became a great trading centre. Later, the Visigoths made it their capital. Under the Moors it was incorporated into the Emirate of Córdoba. With its large Jewish population, it came to flourish as the epitome of Spain's society of three cultures, Muslim, Christian and Jewish. Reconquered in 1085 with the assistance of El Cid, Toledo soon became the capital of Christian Spain once again. The Muslim tradition of religious tolerance continued under the Christians, at least until the early C15...

The city disappears from the history books for about 400 years, to re-emerge briefly during the Spanish Civil War (the story is told at the end of this section). Cast that aside and cast aside the suffocating plethora of tourist shops, and you can feel as you walk through the town's medieval streets that you are walking through a unique treasurehouse of Spanish history, culture and society.

» Full essay from

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Oxígeno y ciprés: junio en España

ENTRANDO...

Camino por el pasillo abierto que lleva hasta la puerta. Me recuerdo. Recuerdo sin fallos el lugar y el sentido del lugar. Ver el mismo cactus, el encanto de las plantas que llueven sobre los muros, ver la casa, el umbral, la cara y bondad insondable de Gloria, que siempre me cuidaba tan bien, significa una colaboración improbable con el fluír temporal.

Cenamos y hablamos de literatura, de leyenda y de la verdad. Hablamos de ese espacio infinito que corre por entre los nudos y planicies de la biografía a medias.

Me encuentro entre planes, entre mundos, entre variados trayectos de un progreso incierto que se llama vida. El aire tenue y privado está repleto de fantasmas e ideales, preferencias, gustos, y todo lo demás que pueda trascender los cambios cotidianos de la vida... [Texto completo]

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MADRID BOMBING INVESTIGATION

5 DETAINED IN CONNECTION WITH THURSDAY'S ATTACKS
14 March 2004

The Spanish government has announced it arrested 5 men in connection with evidence related to Thursday's bomb attacks in Madrid. 3 of the men are Moroccans, 2 carry Indian passports but may be Spanish citizens of Indian origin. Thousands of protesters gathered outside the ruling party's HQ on Saturday, to demand answers. Suspicions turn from ETA to Al Qaeda. [Full Story]

CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT

SPAIN ELECTS ZAPATERO, VOTES OUT PARTIDO POPULAR
15 March 2004

Only three days after the worst terrorist incident in Spanish history, Spain has ousted the governing PP and installed the socialist PSOE, which had governed throughout the 1980s and the transition to democracy. Tension over issues of war and peace had been growing since 90% of Spain's population opposed its government's involvement in the Iraq war. Turnout was up 8.46% over 2000. Zapatero pledges to combat terrorism as first priority. [Full Story]

EUROPEAN UNION

EU CAMPAIGNS TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY
17 January 2004

The European Union requires a ban on the death penalty for all members. While the EU has been a staunch proponent of human rights, and is home to the World Criminal Court, EU officials have announced they will intensify their global campaign against capital punishment. Representatives of the EU are touring Asian countries, hoping to lobby their governments for the cessation of the practice. [For more: IHT]

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