Toledo is a city and municipality of Spain, capital of the province of Toledo and the de jure seat of the government and parliament of the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. Toledo was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 for its extensive monumental and cultural heritage.

Located on the banks of the Tagus in central Iberia, Toledo is known as the “Imperial City” because it was the main venue of the court of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in Spain, and as the “City of the Three Cultures” for the cultural influences of Christians, Muslims, and Jews reflected in its history. It was the capital from 542 to 725 AD of the Visigothic kingdom, which followed the fall of the Roman Empire, and the location of historic events such as the Councils of Toledo. The city, seat of a powerful archdiocese for much of its history, has a Gothic Cathedral, the Catedral Primada de España (“The Primate Cathedral of Spain”), and a long history in the production of bladed weapons, which are now common souvenirs of the city.

People who were born or have lived in Toledo include Brunhilda of Austrasia, Al-Zarqali, Garcilaso de la Vega, Eleanor of Toledo, Alfonso X, Israeli ben Joseph, Halevi, and El Greco. As of 2015, the city had a population of 83,226 and an area of 232.1 km² (89.6 sq mi).

Main sights

The city of Toledo was declared a Historic-Artistic Site in 1940, UNESCO later given the title of World Heritage in 1987. Sights include:

• Tomb of Saint Beatrice of Silva, founder of the Order of the Immaculate Conception, at the Conceptionist Monastery of Toledo.
• Castillo de San Servando, medieval castle near the banks of the Tagus river and the Infantry Academy.
• The Gothic Cathedral, dating from the thirteenth century. Inside there is the Clear from Narciso Tome, in Baroque.
• Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes, in Isabelline Gothic style (15th century).
• The Renaissance Museo-Hospital de Santa Cruz (16th century).
• El Greco Museum, a house-museum designed as a recreation of the artist’s home, which was lost centuries ago. It houses several important paintings.
• Santa María la Blanca, the oldest synagogue building in Europe still standing, now owned by the Catholic Church.
• Synagogue of El Transito, in the Jewish Quarter. It is home to the Sephardic Museum.
• Hospital de Tavera Museum Duque de Lerma. Renaissance style, dates from the sixteenth century. Influenced the layout of El Escorial.
• Church of Santiago del Arrabal, in Mudéjar style.
• Iglesia de Santo Tome. Mudéjar style, the fourteenth century, houses the famous Burial of Count Orgaz, by El Greco.
• El Cristo de la Luz, a small mosque-oratory built in 999, later extended with Mudéjar apse for conversion into a church.
• Galiana Palace (13th century), in Mudéjar style.
• Tornerías Mosque (11th century).
• Alcazar fortress (16th century), located in the highest part of town, overlooking the city. From 2009 it houses the collection of the Army Museum.
• Iglesia de San Andrés, In its crypt are 60 mummies of infantes, dukes, nuns and others, in a good state of preservation, open to visitors.
• Puerta Bab al-Mardum (10th century), the oldest city gate of Toledo.
• Puerta de Bisagra Antigua (10th century), the main entrance to the city in Andalusian times. Also known as “Puerta de Alfonso VI”.
• Puerta del Sol (14th century), built by the Knights Hospitallers.
• Puerta de Bisagra Nueva (16th century), of Moorish origin re-built by Alonso de Covarrubias. The main entrance and face of Toledo today.
• Puerta del Cambrón, of Muslim origin, re-built in the 16th century.
• San Román (Museum of the Councils and Visigoth culture).
• Ermita del Cristo de la Vega, in Mudéjar style (11th century).
• Alcántara bridge, Roman bridge across the Tagus.
• Puente de San Martin, medieval bridge across the Tagus.

To mark the fourth centenary of the publication of the first part of Don Quixote, the Council of Communities of Castile–La Mancha designed a series of routes through the region crossing the various points cited in the novel. Known as the Route of Don Quixote, two of the pathways designated, sections 1 and 8, are based in Toledo; those linking the city with La Mancha Castile and Montes de Toledo exploit the natural route which passes through the Cigarrales and heads to Cobisa, Nambroca Burguillos of Toledo, where it takes the Camino Real from Sevilla to suddenly turn towards Mascaraque Almonacid de Toledo, deep into their surroundings, near Mora, in La Mancha.

This stretch, Mascaraque-Toledo, of the Route of Don Quixote has recently been included in an official way on the Camino de Santiago in Levantine branch with origins in Cartagena, Alicante and Valencia, as both routes are declared a European Cultural Route on this stretch.