9 Mar 2015. <ES> Toledo, Castile-La Mancha —
Dads are dads everywhere!
A well-guarded shop front!
The 'Arco de la Sangre' (Arch of Blood) in Plaza de Zocodover
A damascene 'Don Quixote' plate in a shop window
(2015 is the year of 'El Quijote')
Another day in Toledo. Today we decided to revisit the cathedral, mainly to visit the cloister (which we didn't get to last time, as it was pretty cold, and its entrance had been well camouflaged). But this time it was a lovely day, we weren't in any hurry, and we picked up on the parts we had missed — and took a few more shots of parts we had already seen, but we won't inflict these on you (until we get home!) The cloister is delightful, with frecoes of the lives of two of the main Toledan saints, one of whom was
Saint Casilda, the daughter of an 11th century Muslim king of Toledo, who was caught delivering bread to Christian prisoners, but when forced to reveal her booty, found that it had been miraculously turned into white roses. These frescoes have been beautifully preserved, without the restoration of sections that had succumbed to the damp conditions.
Also in the cloister is the
Capilla de San Blas (The Chapel of Saint Blaise). What remains of its frescoes is totally amazing.
So we wandered the cathedral for a while, then went out, virtually round the corner, to the
Iglesia de El Salvador (The Church of El Salvador), which started life as an 11th century mosque in Moorish Toledo, and was converted to a church in 1159. From the outside, it is somewhat unprepossessing, and inside, as a church, it is a fairly typical Spanish catholic church — but the remains of the mosque are still there. A set of arches down one side are totally Moorish, utilising materials from pre-Moorish times (the Moors were great at recycling!). One of the columns is even a Visigothic Christian pillar, totally intact, except that the Moors defaced (literally) the figure of Christ wherever he occurs. Inside the church, to the left, is the archaeological site of the old mosque. It's a fascinating juxtaposition of the two faiths and is, in a way, reminiscent ot the
Mezquita-catedral de Córdoba.
Suzie up in the minaret, now belfry
From here, we went back to the van under the friendly protection of the Alcázar. Tomorrow, the dentist!
Distance driven — today, 8 miles ( 13 km ); to date, 15,084 miles ( 24,276 km )
Beautiful. Was Suzie singing for the Muezzin? Breathtaking art work as usual and you keep getting pictures of that place-you must have all sides covered by now. David is sorting through our million boxes of stored old rubbish and re arranging them so now I don't really know where anything is, so as long as his memory is intact we might be OK. I gave him a marker pen and notice he has now been using it, so mebbe! I'm keeping right out of it. He keeps bringing in bits of this and that which I quietly bin later on. I know perfectly well where my old handbags are stored but because I've wanted the shed sorted for 4 years now and every time I try to do some he yells at me or I strain some joints. So I've told him a fib and said I wondered if he could find them for me. Hence the sort out. he seems to enjoy being busy and is goal oriented so he can do that while I do PhD, both massive tasks. I guess we'll both get finished at about the same time. The trouble is, all of Nicks, Jay's, Merry's and Sophies old stuff is stored there too and everytime there is a teenage party things get moved and moved and moved and never put back. They, collectively have far more junk than we have but we cannot get them to claim and sort it for themselves. I have told them politely that by the end of this year, baby or not, they need to have done it or Dave and I will get a skip an d dice the lot! maybe that will cure them. i wish Nick and Jay could or would get jobs. They are becoming real couch potatoes in the mean time and getting either of them to help us very much is a no go. Oh well, Life goes on. Love cathy
ReplyDelete