toledo

Toledo, officially granted Heritage of Mankind status by UNESCO in 1987, is one of the richest historically, culturally and monumentally endowed cities in Spain. It is also the capital of the province of the same name; and this area of over 15,000 square kilometres divided in two by the River Tagus, which cleaves through it from east to west and on whose banks rise the main urban centres, has a population numbering fewer than half a million inhabitants.

In the north-east, the valley of the River Tietar is flanked by a series of mountain ranges; to the south, the Toledo Hills (Montes de Toledo), mantled in Holm Oaks (encinas), white-leafed rock roses (jaras) and aromatic plants, survey a sizeable stretch of terrain abounding in game. Eastwards the area opens out into the region of La Mancha which, overlapping into neighbouring provinces, is marked by its characteristically flat expanses and towns so indelibly portrayed by Cervantes.

Toledo, one of the five provinces which go to make up the Comunidad Autonoma de Castilla-La Mancha (Castile-La Mancha Regional Authority), is situated south of Madrid, to which it is linked by road and train; the distance between the two capitals is 75 kilometres.

A good network of secondary roads allows for exploration of a province which is also crossed by two major highways, the N-V connecting Madrid and Extremadura, and the N-IV heading south to Andalusia. The climate is similar to the whole of Spain's central plateau: cold winters, hot summers, plentiful sunlight, sparse rainfall, though temperatures are never excessively rigorous during either of the seasonal extremes thanks to the protection afforded by the mountain ranges lying to the south and north.

Toledo is a farming and ranching province, studded with vineyards, fields of wheat, cotton and tobacco, the ever-present flocks of sheep and goats being the main types of livestock; most of its industries are connected with agriculture and handicrafts. Toledo's idyllic setting on a plateau high above the Tajo River has always given it a special mystique for the visitor. It was this setting that appealed to centuries of painters including El Greco, whose home and museum contains an extensive collection of his paintings.

During its heyday as capital (before it was moved to Madrid in 1561), Toledo was one of the most enlightened cities in Europe and a famous center for medicine, translation and manuscripts. While the rest of Europe was suffering through the Dark Ages, Toledo was shining bright and prospering.

Toledo was a society of great tolerance that attracted Muslim, Jewish and Christian men of learning and commerce. It was the scholars of Toledo who kept the works of the Greeks and Romans from becoming lost to future generations. Prominent schools of science, mathematics, theology and mysticism developed here, as well as schools of the occult and alchemy.

Although often overshadowed by nearby Madrid, it is Toledo - its narrow, winding streets and steps, stone houses, unpretentious museums - that embodies the soul of Spain's intriguing past.

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