Toledo Cathedral, Spain

Toledo Cathedral — the Primate Cathedral of Spain — is one of the greatest Gothic churches in the world and the spiritual heart of a city that was long the religious capital of the country. It was begun in 1226, under King Ferdinand III, on the site of the city’s great mosque and an earlier Visigothic church, and rose over more than two and a half centuries into a vast and richly decorated masterpiece of French High Gothic, adapted to Spanish taste. Set in the maze of streets of Toledo’s UNESCO-listed old town, high above the River Tagus, it is famous not only for its architecture but for an astonishing concentration of art accumulated over the centuries.

What to See

The scale and richness of the interior are extraordinary: five great aisles, a soaring main chapel with one of the largest and most elaborate Gothic altarpieces in Spain, and beautifully carved choir stalls. Its most celebrated feature is the Transparente, an exuberant Baroque confection of marble and gilt behind the high altar, ingeniously lit by a shaft of daylight cut through the vault above. The Sacristy is effectively a picture gallery, hung with masterpieces including El Greco’s “The Disrobing of Christ,” painted for this very spot, alongside works by Titian, Van Dyck, Goya and Caravaggio. In the treasury stands the Custodia of Enrique de Arfe, a towering Gothic monstrance of gilded silver made of thousands of pieces, carried through the streets each year at the great Corpus Christi procession. The cloister, chapter house and bell tower complete an almost inexhaustible visit.

How to Get There and Practical Information

Toledo lies about 70 kilometres south of Madrid in Castilla-La Mancha and is an easy day trip from the capital, reached in around half an hour by high-speed AVE train or by bus; the cathedral stands at the very centre of the hilltop old town, a walk up through the narrow streets from the station (or a ride on the escalators and local buses that help with the climb). Entry is ticketed, with a standard ticket covering the cathedral and its museums and reduced rates available; it is open Monday to Saturday and on Sunday afternoons, closing to sightseeing during services. Allow at least an hour and a half, and combine your visit with the rest of Toledo’s remarkable old town, from the Alcázar to the synagogues and the paintings of El Greco.