Toledo is a gorgeous mountain-top fortified city with a very rich history dating back the 2nd century BC, passing through the hands of many different regional powers. One of the fascinating things to see in Toledo is how they’ve built on this history to boost up tourism, and one of the prime examples is the local Jewish history. There once was a very active local community, but that has been brought to a tragic end when at 1492 the Jews were forced to convert to Christianity or were exiled. The church took over the local synagogues, and not much has remained in the following centuries, up until the 20th century.
Now, UNESCO tourist-mecca Toledo celebrates diversity and promotes its Jewish history, among that of the Christians and the Muslims, with various highlights in the former Jewish quarter and the recent revival of the local Jewish community. I arrived in Toledo on a Saturday, so most of the Jewish highlights were closed for visitors, yet the ones that were taken over and operated by a church were open, and I was able to see a bit of the Hebrew signs.
The only former synagogue I was able to visit was the Santa María la Blanca, which obviously now looks like a church, but there are minor signs in various spots around the church to show its Jewish history…
And, all over Toledo, were some Hebrew signs…
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Too bad I missed out on what was closed, hope to have a chance to come back and make up for it some day. This is now a part of Toledo history, and part of the tour when visiting in Toledo. Try and visit atleast one of those Jewish spots, and learn about the tragic history of the local Jews.