Toledo

Toledo is one of the most important centers of European medieval history. The first one to mention Toledo was the Roman author Titus Livius, who described it as a "small fortified town". The city is built on a promontory and bordered on three sides by a gorge in the Rio Tajo. The land side protected by an inner and outer wall.

Walking through its streets you feel like you have stepped back into the Middle Ages, a period when it rose to become one of the most important cultural centers in the world. This was the time known as Toledo of Three Cultures, a period when Jews, Muslims, and Christians lived culturally and religiously side by side. This period began after the Moors captured the city in the 8th century, spanned the time the city fell into Christian hands in 1085, stretched through to the end of the 15th century when it was decreed that the Jews be expelled in 1492.

Toledo lost its political preeminence in 1561, when Philip II decided to move the capital of the kingdom to Madrid. After that Toledo fell into decline.

In 1577, El Greco came to paint the altarpiece in the convent of Santo Domongo el Antiquo. Enchanted by the city, he stayed, painting religious portraits and altarpieces for other churches.

The major revitalization of the city came in 1983, when it was made the capital of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha.