Toledo 2

In the mid-nineteenth century Toledo was one of the first Spanish cities to receive rail service, being attached to the Madrid - Aranjuez line which was inaugurated by Elizabeth II on June 12 of 1858. The current station style Neo-Mud?jar, was inaugurated on April 24 of 1919 and is a remarkably beautiful building, especially the paneling in the main hall of the same.

With several ups and downs in terms of technical equipment and services this is the line that served the city until the early twenty-first century: on July 2 of 2003 the last conventional train service between the two capitals ended and work began on the high-speed link, Madrid - Toledo, which entered service on November 16 of 2005, thanks to which travel time to Madrid has been reduced to just under 30 minutes.

The Cathedral of Toledo (Catedral de Toledo) was built between 1226?1493 and modeled after the Bourges Cathedral, though it also combines some characteristics of the Mud?jar 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, paintings, bronze castings, and multiple colors of marble, a masterpiece of medieval mixed media by Narciso Tome topped by the daily effect for just a few minutes of a shaft of light from which this feature of the cathedral derives its name.

Two notable bridges secured access to Toledo across the Tajo, the Alcantara bridge and the later built San Martin bridge. The Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes is a Franciscan monastery, built 1477-1504, in a remarkable combination of Gothic-Spanish-Flemish style with Mudejar ornamentation.

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 Tom?.

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.

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 (Jews) and 1502 (Muslims). Today's city contains the religious monuments the Synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca, the Synagogue of El Transito, Mosque of Cristo de la Luz and the church of San Sebastian dating from before the expulsion, still maintained in good condition. Among Ladino-speaking Sephardi Jews, in their various diasporas, the family name Toledano is still prevalent?indicating an ancestry traced back to this city (the name is also attested among non-Jews in various Spanish-speaking countries).

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, that had commenced under Archbishop Raymond of Toledo, continued to import knowledge to Europe by rendering great academic and philosophical works in Arabic into Latin. The Palacio de Galiana, built in the Mudejar style, is one of the monuments that remain from that period.