October 15-17, Kelly

We rented a car to get from San Sebastián to Granada, and decided to stop for a night each in Toledo and Cordoba.

TOLEDO was the first stop and it looked exactly like a set from Game of Thrones. In the 3rd century the ROMANS built a palace in Toledo, and then the VISIGOTHS ruled there for a while. In the 8th century, the MOORS took control of the town and the whole Iberian Peninsula. Then, in 1085, after succumbing to a siege, it became a CHRISTIAN outpost. After that, it was intermittently home to CATHOLIC ROYALTY until 1561 when the Spanish court was moved to Madrid. Throughout portions of its history, Jews, Muslims, and Christians co-existed in the walled city resulting in the awesome architectural clash of cultures that is on display today – there are mosques built on roman ruins, synagogues built on old mosques, mosques built over Visigoth church ruins, and cathedrals built over mosques. To the victor goes the spoils. There were also horrible periods of persecution, forced conversions, and mass murder. Like I said, Game of Thrones.

CORDOBA has a similar history, which is clearly visible when you visit the marvel that is Mezquita-Catedral de Cordoba. In 785, a huge impressive mosque was built that featured row upon row of incredible interior striped double arches that would make Ronald McDonald swoon. Later on not to be outdone, in the 16th Century the Catholics built an entire full-sized, renaissance cathedral right into the middle of the mosque! It’s an architectural turducken of epic proportions!