TOLEDO, SPAIN

If you want to get to know Toledo, dust off your walking shoes and get ready. The city is an intricate, windy conglomeration of narrow and often steep streets that cannot possibly be mastered in a short period of time. A map of the city shows a magnificent labyrinth placed atop a hill, with no structure whatsoever. To arrive in Toledo is to confront a city in which almost every stone tells a centuries old history. There is no point in trying to divide it rationally; there are really only two concrete areas: the Casco Histórico, or Historical Quarter, which is, essentially, the whole of the old city; and the newly-built neighborhoods, which are separated by the city walls. The Puerta de Bisagra (Bisagra Gate) is probably the most popular means of entry into the old city.

Go through the impressive Puerta de Bisagra and you find yourself in the Historical Quarter; you will immediately perceive the special atmosphere that is the result of the mixture of history and modernity, most notably in architecture. You can easily note this blend in the Plaza de Zocodover, which used to be the marketplace ... more