Before our Portugal tours, my partner António and I spent a few days in Toledo, Spain, researching a future ThreadWritten textile tour. Toledo is beautiful, with architecture from the Visigoths, Moors, and Christians. Who were the Visigoths, you might be asking? They were a migratory Germanic tribe that dominated southern France and part of Spain in the 6th and 7th centuries after the Romans and before the Moors.

There is much to see in Toledo, from the Cathedral built in the French Gothic style in the 13th century to the Mudéjar architecture, Moorish buildings commissioned by Christian and Jewish patrons and built by Muslim craftsmen in the 19th century. El Greco lived and worked in Toledo. It’s incredible to see The Burial of the Count of Orgaz from 1586 in person!

I am excited to read Ornament of the World by María Rosa Menocal. A documentary series of the same title, partially based on her book, was produced in 2019. Here is a related article on Jews in Spain published in the magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Did you see the PBS series or read the book? Let’s discuss!