Traversing the Streets of Toledo

3D Map of Toledo

Driving up to Toledo in a tour bus full of chatting exchange students--all speaking different languages, from German to Chinese to Danish-- my first reaction was something along the lines of, "Okay cool. A castle. Some old walls. Let's tour!"

But once you start driving through the hills surrounding Toledo, seeing the worn walkways that have probably run the same routes amongst stones and clusters of hearty scrub since the days when the Romans controlled the city, the sentiment becomes an entirely new one. You begin to realize that this is not just a very old place; it has a flavor to it, a distinct history that begins to draw you in the moment your feet actually touch the cobbled streets of this nearly three thousand year old city.

Beginning with the Romans, then changing hands to the Visigoths, the Moors, and finally the Spanish, the city presents a convergence of architectural styles and artwork. Bordered on one side by a river, the city slopes upward from the riverbanks and entirely covers the hill that serves as its foundation. A large castle caps the top of the hill and a cathedral and many churches pepper the upper section of the slope as well.

It's odd though, riding up the entirely modern escalators to reach the top of the city where the steel and electric invention seems as though from another plane. Sloping up and down, the streets are narrow, crooked, and impossible to figure out--unless you're a local I suppose.

Within the churches, frescoes from as far back as the 14th century depict Christian saints bordered by Arabic script. Here there were many dominating religions, depending on the power that reigned over the city at any given time; but in the holy places, every care has been taken throughout the many centuries to preserve the evidence of all the cultures that came here, conquered, lived, and were defeated in their own turn. It's almost a tribute to the great circle of life in the sense that nothing was destroyed for being the belief of a previous culture; each had its time and place and the subsequent rulers seemed to respect that here and to allow old memories to remain.

Although there's a main plaza from which various bars and shops spread outward, the city has a distinct emptiness to it that permeates the stone walls, that seems to echo through the mortar. Toledo is a place for the day and for the sunlight; the churches are cavernous and host excellent artifacts and ornamentation; the bars are much like others I've visited thus far in Spain, lively and loud. However, the winding streets with nothing in them but shadows and the high walls of unused structures far outnumber the populated areas.

To me--and perhaps not only myself as the population has declined to an ever dwindling 15,000--Toledo is not a place to go to sleep or to dream. Toledo is not a place for the night.