Jewish New Year in a 600-year old synagogue

Toledo (the original one; not the one in Ohio) is about 40 mins from Madrid. It was also jewish new year and given Toledo’s jewish history, I figured it was an appropriate day to go visit with a free afternoon I had.

Prior to the Spanish inquisition, jews, muslims and Christians all lived here peacefully which was a pretty big deal in the 1300’s. As a result, the architecture in the city is a mix reflecting each culture’s styles. While the Islamic legacy lives on in the form of architectural style, everything else muslim has been wiped out from the city more or less, except for a few of the mosques which have been preserved and are now museums. However, the jewish quarter has remained intact which was of particular interest for me given I am jewish. Toledo really likes showing off its jewish heritage…The jewish quarter is plastered everywhere with stuff showcasing jewish culture, explaining the history of the jews there, etc. The main synagogue of the city (sinagoga del transito) is now a museum that does a very, very in-depth treatment on the history of the jews not just in Toledo but in Spain in general. If you like reading a lot in museum exhibits, this will be just the thing for you! Also, according to Lonely Planet it cost 2.50EUR to get into the museum. But with my IE student card I got in for free! SCORE!

The cathedral of Toledo is also pretty awesome. Mind you, I’ve seen a lot of churches with pretty fantastic architecture so this one wasn’t any more amazing than those of Italy or whatever, but still cool to see nonetheless.

Something else Toledo is famous for is its marzipan (or “mazapan” in spanish) so I obviously had to try some. SOOOOOOO good!! Super delicious dessert!! I was a fan.

The city walls of Toledo have been kept intact from the old days although the city has obviously expanded outside of the walls. Nonetheless, I can understand why Toledo is considered a UNESCO Heritage site. Inside the city walls it felt like I was in the 1600s. Everything there is so old (and well-preserved), from the tiny, winding streets to the architecture that remains intact. However, to take me out of the sense that I was in the 1600s were the throngs and throngs of tourists. Honestly it felt like no one lived in Toledo; that the town was only “populated” by tourists passing through. But whatever; for a short and cheap bus trip out of Madrid, this was definitely a worthwhile visit!!