Toledo - Sephardic tradition; and the Visigoths. The Moors

Toledo, Spain, city walls

Toledo is listed as a town as early as the 4th Century BC, as a Roman town, conquered by later "Alans" and Visigoths. It became the capital of the Visigoth kingdom., and was taken over by the Moors, or Muslims, in 711. Alfonso VI reconquered in 1085. , see ://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/quote3.html. History compressed.

The city is prominent in the heritage of the Sephardic Jewish tradition. See muweb.millersville.edu/%7Ecolumbus/data/art/TOLEDAN1.ART. With a car and Toledo, get out of it as fast as you can. Streets too narrow. We stayed at the first little hotel we found that offered parking - in the old Jewish quarter. Perfect location. A view, as here, of only the outer wall area is misleading - inside is a large city with tiny streets, twisting all over.

Cathedral, Toledo, Spain

Here is the Cathedral at the end of one of the little streets. Apparently, vistas of great buildings were not important from a distance.

The city is bounded by a bend in the river and cliffs. Jews, Christians, Muslims lived here peacefully for centuries. ://www.spain.info/TourSpain/Arte%20y%20Cultura/Conjuntos%20monumentales/G/TP/0/Ciudad%20Historica%20de%20Toledo.htm?Language=en

How Toledo fell to the Moors, a/k/a Muslims (are Moors the same as the Arabs and Berbers who initially conquered, or is there a difference with the Ottomans, and is "Moor" any number of those after all the intermarriages who were Muslim?)

. The Visigothic Count Julian had sent his daughter to the palace of the Visigothic King Roderick, where - the King had his way. Count Julian, in his anger, told the Moors who were attacking the city how to get up a hidden path to enter the city. They did, and the rest is history. muweb.millersville.edu/%7Ecolumbus/data/spc/RECON-MD.SPK. Revenge. Other versions have the daughter bathing and the King sees her, etc.

Toledo food: see www.red2000.com/spain/toledo/gastro. There is a fine Parador (government sponsored hotel - see post on Paradors) here, but we stayed in the old Jewish quarter instead in order to be right at street level.

Spanish place names (like Toledo, Ohio) in the US: For anyone with family origins in Spain, look at all the places named for Spain. For a listing of the United States place names from Spain: see factmonster.com/spot/spanishnames.