Toledo -Day Two

I had an amazing day in Toledo starting off at the Cathedral,  a monumental and exquisite building that took from 1226 to 1495 to complete. As you would imagine it's a mix of styles, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical with elaborate wrougt-iron work, lavish wood carvings and gorgeous 500 year-old stained glass windows. Ornate individual chapels, purchased by the town's most noble families, encircle the interior. The Capilla Mayor or High Altar is absolutely stunning. The area behind the altar is completely covered with painted wooden sculptures depicting scenes from the lives of Christ and Mary. In the centre of the Cathedral is the Choir with its elaborately carved stall seats featuring Old Testament figures and leading to the Archbishop's throne. I next went to the Sacristy, which would be the envy of any museum in the world with its collection of masterpieces by the likes of El Greco, Francisco de Goya, Titian, Velázquez, and Caravaggio. The Treasury next door to it is rather small, but radiant with riches such as the 10 foot high, 430 pound Monstrance with its diamonds, emeralds, rubies and gold plated silver. After the Cathedral I went to the nearby Army Museum located in the Alcázar, the huge former imperial residence that dominates the skyline of Toledo. It has an enormous historical display of weaponry, uniforms and medals as well as fabulous paintings of battle scenes. My next port of call was the rather simple 14th century old Chapel of Santo Tome, which holds the most revered painting of El Greco, "The Burial of the Count of Orgaz". The Count was a saintly and deeply respected man and  he was buried, as he requested, in the chapel. 250 years after his death a local priest commissioned El Greco to create a painting to hang above the Count's tomb. The painting is divided into two by a serene line of noble faces with heaven above and earth below. On the earth side are Toledo's most distinguished citizens including a self portrait of El Greco himself. Above the faces the Count's soul, symbolized by a new born baby, rises through a mythical birth canal to be reborn in  heaven, where Jesus, Mary and several saints are waiting to receive him. It was a wonderful experience to see this canvas by El Greco in all its glorious colour some 400 years after the Master painted it in the very spot above the Count's tomb where he intended
It to be and I stayed there for some time gazing up at it. I then went to the Santa Cruz Museum,  a stately 15th century Renaissance building, which had three sections, a lovely cloister to stroll around, a really beautiful collection of Tiles and Ceramics dating back from the Reconquista Period (1492) and a gallery of wonderful paintings,  including 15 by El Greco. My last stop was the 1,000 year old Mezquita Cristo de la Luz, built in the Caliphate Period.  It started out as a mosque but was converted into a church a century later when an
apse was added. It is still a very beautiful building with its three parallel naves, vaulted ceilings, cusped arches and richly decorated quibla wall guiding the faithful towards Mecca. Tomorrow I take the train back to Madrid, where I shall stay for five days.