Catedral de Toledo

Catedral de Toledo · Toledo

Por Spain · 6 de agosto de 2025

The cathedral was built on the site of a Muslim mosque which had previously been a church dating from the time of Recaredo, in the 6th century. King Saint Ferdinand and the archbishop laid the foundation stone in 1226. Subsequently, the fifteen chapels of the ambulatory were completed. The nave and transept were completed around the year 1300, although work continued over the following two centuries.

It has a five-nave layout and measures 120 metres in length and 59 metres in width. The roof is supported by 88 columns.

The polychrome stained-glass windows date from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. The five-section altarpiece in the High Chapel features scenes from the New Testament with life-size polychrome sculptures and is crafted from fire-gilded wood. It was commissioned by Cardinal Cisneros and created between 1497 and 1504.

The 15th-century Chapel of St James is in the Flamboyant Gothic style and houses the sarcophagi of the Constable of Castile, Don Álvaro de Luna, and his wife, Doña Juana de Pimentel. The impressive choir is considered the grandest in Christendom.

The grille enclosing it is by Domingo de Céspedes. Work on the stone carvings of the lower choir began in the 15th century, depicting scenes ranging from the surrender of towns and fortresses to the conquest of Granada.

The upper choir consists of 72 seats and was created by Alonso de Berruguete and Felipe Vigarni in the 16th century. The so-called ‘Ochavo’ is a sumptuous room dating from the late 16th century, dedicated to the martyrs and witnesses of Christ, which houses treasures of great value such as the reliquary of Saint Louis, a bust of Saint John the Baptist and Cardinal Mendoza’s Cross.

In the Main Sacristy, one can admire works by Lucas Jordán and El Greco.

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