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Toledo is a city and municipality located in central Spain, about 100 kilometers south of Madrid. It is the capital of the province of Toledo and of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, due to its extensive cultural and monumental heritage as one of the former capitals of the Spanish Empire and place of coexistence of Christian, Jewish and Moorish cultures. Many famous people and artists were born or lived in this city, including Garcilaso de la Vega, Alfonso X and El Greco, and it was the place of important historic events such as the Visigothic Councils of Toledo. As of 2005, the city has a population of 75,578 and an area of 232.1 square kilometers (89.59 square miles). In 1986 the UNESCO declared Toledo a World Heritage Site. Image:Toledo, Spain location.png Location of Toledo in Spain
HistoryAs encountered by the Romans, the city – called Toletum (Τώλητον, Ptol. ii. 6. § 57) – was the capital of the Carpetani. It was incorporated into the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis. It sat at a strategic location along the Tagus River and on the road from Emerita (modern Mérida) to Caesaraugusta (modern Zaragoza), and connected also by another road with Laminium. (Itin. Ant. pp. 438, 446.) It was a very strong town, though only of moderate size, and famed for its manufacture of arms and steel-ware. (Liv. xxxv. 7, 22, xxxix, 30; Grat. Cyneg. 341; cf. Miñano, Diccion. viii, p. 453.) According to an old Spanish tradition, Toledo was founded in the year 540 BC by Jewish colonists, who named it Toledoch, that is, mother of people, whence one might perhaps infer a Phoenician settlement. (Cf. Miñano, l. c.; Puente, Travels, i. p. 27.) Toledo later served as the capital city of Visigothic Spain, beginning with Liuvigild (Leovigild), and was the capital until the Moors conquered Iberia in the 8th century. Under the Caliphate of Cordoba, Toledo enjoyed a golden age. This extensive period is known as La Convivencia, i.e. the co-existence of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Under Arab rule, Toledo was called Tulaytulah (Arabic طليطلة, academically transliterated Ṭulayṭulah).
Toledo was famed for its production of steel and especially of swords and the city is still a center for the manufacture of knives and other steel implements. When Philip II moved the royal court from Toledo to Madrid in 1561, the old city went into a slow decline from which it never recovered. Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces. Arts and cultureAs Toledo saw its glory days in the era of Islamic Caliphate when it was a beautiful combination of art and science. Perhaps the most prominent masterpiece of art was the 'waterlocks of Toledo'. Famous historian P. de Gayangos writes an example of such a merger of science and arts as: ""The Muslim scientists of this age were unrivaled in the world. Perhaps among their greatest feats were the famous waterlocks of Toledo." [1] The old city is located on a mountaintop, surrounded on three sides by a bend in the Tagus River, and contains many historical sites, including the Alcázar, the cathedral (the primate church of Spain), and the Zocodover, a central marketplace. Image:The Burial of the Count of Orgaz lower half.jpg The Burial of Count Orgaz was painted by El Greco in 1586. Based on a 14th-century legend. Toledo, Spain. From the 5th century to the 16th century about thirty synods were held at Toledo. The earliest, directed against Priscillian, assembled in 400. At the synod of 589 the Visigothic King Reccared declared his conversion from Arianism; the synod of 633 decreed uniformity of liturgy throughout the Visigothic kingdom and took stringent measures against baptized Jews who had relapsed into their former faith. The council of 681 assured to the archbishop of Toledo the primacy of Spain. As nearly one hundred early canons of Toledo found a place in the Decretum Gratiani, they exerted an important influence on the development of ecclesiastical law. The synod of 1565–1566 concerned itself with the execution of the decrees of the Council of Trent; and the last council held at Toledo, 1582–1583, was guided in detail by Philip II. Toledo was famed for religious tolerance and had large communities of Muslims and Jews until they were expelled from Spain in 1492 and 1604; the city therefore has important religious monuments like the Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca, the Synagogue of El Transito, and the Mosque of Cristo de la Luz. In the 13th century, Toledo was a major cultural center under the guidance of Alfonso X, called "El Sabio" ("the Wise") for his love of learning. The Toledo school of translators rendered available great academic and philosophical works in Arabic and Hebrew by translating them into Latin, bringing vast stores of knowledge to Europe for the first time. The cathedral of Toledo (Catedral de Toledo) was modeled after the Bourges Cathedral though it also combines some characteristics of the Mudéjar style. It is remarkable for its incorporation of light and features the Baroque altar called El Transparente, several stories high, with fantastic figures of stucco, painting, bronze castings, and multiple colors of marble, a masterpiece of medieval mixed media by Narciso Tomé topped by the daily effect for just a few minutes of a shaft light that this feature of the cathedral derives its name. Toledo was home to El Greco for the latter part of his life, and is the subject of some of his most famous paintings, including The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, exhibited in the Church of Santo Tomé. Additionally, the city was renowned throughout the middle ages and into the present day as an important center for the production of swords and other bladed instruments. Image:Tagus River Panorama - Toledo, Spain - Dec 2006.jpg The Tagus River flows through Toledo Demography
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