Toledo

Toledo, city, Spain

Toledo, city (1990 pop. 60,671), capital of Toledo province, central Spain, in Castile–La Mancha, on a granite hill surrounded on three sides by a gorge of the Tagus River. Historically and culturally it is one of the most important cities of Spain. Tourism is its most important industry, and armaments and engraved metalwork are manufactured.

Landmarks and Institutions

The city's general aspect has changed little since El Greco painted his famous View of Toledo. Its chief landmark, the alcázar (fortified palace), was originally a Moorish structure, restored in the 13th cent. and transformed (1535, 1576) to serve as residence for Charles V and Philip II. It was largely destroyed (1936) in the Spanish civil war, when the Nationalists, with their women and children, shut themselves up inside and withstood a Loyalist siege for two months, until relieved by Franco's forces. After the war the fortress was again restored.

Toledo is surrounded by partly Moorish, partly Gothic walls and gates. Of Moorish origin also is the Alcántara bridge. The Gothic cathedral, begun in 1226, is one of the finest in Spain and houses El Greco's Espolio and other paintings by him in its lovely baroque chapels. Among the other many famous buildings are the Church of Santo Tomé, with El Greco's Burial of the Conde de Orgaz; the Church of Santa María la Blanca (12th–13th cent.; formerly a synagogue); the Convent of San Juan de los Reyes (15th cent.), with five Gothic cloisters; the Hospital of San Juan Bautista (15th–16th cent.), which has some paintings by El Greco; the former Tránsito synagogue, in Mudéjar style; and the Greco Museum.

History

Toledo is of pre-Roman origin; known in ancient times as Toletum, it fell to the Romans in 193 B.C. The city became an early archiepiscopal see; its archbishops are the primates of Spain. In the 6th cent. Toledo prospered as a capital of the Visigothic kingdom, and it was the scene of several important church councils. Its greatest prosperity began under Moorish rule (712–1085), first as the seat of an emir and after 1031 as the capital of an independent kingdom. Under the Moors and later under the kings of Castile, who made it their chief residence, Toledo was a center of the Moorish, Spanish, and Jewish cultures and thus a great center for translation (its School of Translators was revived in 1995). Toledo sword blades were famous for their strength, elasticity, and craftsmanship; the art was introduced by Moorish artisans, and it is still carried on. Other important products were silk and wool textiles.

In the 15th cent. Valladolid superseded Toledo as chief royal residence, but Emperor Charles V resided in Toledo during much of his reign (1516–56). Its decline began in the 16th cent., but at the same time Toledo gained importance as Spain's spiritual capital. The seat of the Grand Inquisitors, it was also the center of the mysticism symbolized by El Greco, whose name has become inseparable from that of Toledo.

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Toledo, city, United States

Toledo (təlē`dō), city (1990 pop. 332,943), seat of Lucas co., NW Ohio, on the Maumee River at its junction with Lake Erie; inc. 1837. With a natural harbor and its railroads and highways, Toledo is a port of entry and one of the chief shipping centers on the Great Lakes. Oil, coal, farm products, and motor vehicle parts are exported; iron ore is the principal import. Toledo is also an industrial and commercial center, with oil refineries, a glassmaking industry, shipyards, and plants that manufacture vehicles, powertrain assemblies, machinery, and chemicals. The health-care industry is also significant.

Gen. Anthony Wayne built Fort Industry there in 1794 after the battle of Fallen Timbers. The city was settled (1817) as Port Lawrence on that site and in 1833 was consolidated with nearby Vistula as Toledo. In 1835–36 occurred the "Toledo War," an Ohio-Michigan boundary dispute, which was settled by Congress in favor of Ohio when Michigan became a state.

Toledo grew and prospered with the opening of the canals in the 1840s, the arrival of numerous railroad lines, the development of the Ohio coal fields, the tapping of gas and oil deposits in the late 19th cent., and the establishment of the Libbey glassworks in 1888. When Samuel M. Jones became mayor in 1897, an era of municipal reform was initiated. Jones died in 1904 and was succeeded by Brand Whitlock. The Toledo plan of labor conciliation (1946) has been adopted by other cities.

The city is the seat of the Univ. of Toledo. Points of interest include the Toledo Museum of Art with its Glass Pavilion, a large zoo, and the Anthony Wayne suspension bridge (1931). The site of the battle of Fallen Timbers, a national historic landmark, is in a nearby state park.

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Toledo

City (pop., 2000: 313,619), northwestern Ohio, U.S. It is the principal Great Lakes port, located at the southwestern end of Lake Erie. The area was opened to white settlement after the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers. Formed by the consolidation of two villages in 1833, it figured in the so-called Toledo War of 1835–36, a bloodless dispute between Michigan Territory and Ohio over the location of their common boundary. Industrial development was spurred in the 1830s and '40s by the arrival of canals and railroads. Glassmaking, now a major industry, was introduced in the late 1880s. A major commercial, industrial, and transportation centre, it handles considerable foreign commerce, and its port is one of the world's largest shippers of bituminous coal. Its educational institutions include the University of Toledo (1872).

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Toledo

 ancient Toletum

City (pop., 2001: 68,382), capital of Castile–La Mancha autonomous community, south-central Spain. On the Tagus River, it was the stronghold of the Carpentini, a powerful Iberian tribe, when it was conquered by Rome in 193 BC. In the 6th century AD it became the Visigoths' capital in Spain. Under the Moors (712–1085) it became a centre of Hebrew and Arabic culture, and it was noted for the manufacture of swords. Taken by Alfonso VI in 1085, it became the capital of New Castile and, in 1230, of the united kingdom of Castilla y León. Toledo was noted for its policy of religious tolerance toward Jews and Arabs during the 11th–15th centuries. It lost importance after Philip II moved the capital to Madrid in 1560. The French occupied Toledo during the Peninsular War (1808–14), and Nationalist forces besieged it (1936) in the Spanish Civil War. Known for its great wealth of notable architecture, the entire urban area is a national monument. It was the home of El Greco.

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Toledo

1. a city in central Spain, on the River Tagus: capital of Visigothic Spain, and of Castile from 1087 to 1560; famous for steel and swords since the first century. Pop.: 72 549 (2003 est.)

2. an inland port in NW Ohio, on Lake Erie: one of the largest coal-shipping ports in the world; transportation and industrial centre; university (1872). Pop.: 308 973 (2003 est.)

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Toledo 

a port city in the northern USA, in Ohio. Situated at the western end of Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Maumee River. Population, 380,000 (1974; including suburbs, 790,000).

Toledo is an important commercial transportation and industrial center, with a freight turnover of about 30 million tons. The city’s industries, which employ 84,000 people (1973), include metalworking, petroleum refining, metallurgy, shipbuilding, the production of glass, porcelain, and chemicals, the processing of food and rubber, and the manufacture of metalcutting machine tools, forging and pressing equipment, construction materials, motor vehicles, and equipment for the chemical and petroleum industries. Coal from Kentucky and West Virginia, along with petroleum products and motor vehicles, is shipped from Toledo to the industrial regions of the Great Lakes and Canada. Toledo also has a university.

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Toledo 

a city in Spain in the region of New Castile, situated on a steep hill on the right bank of the Tajo River. Capital of Toledo Province. Population, 44,400 (1970). The city is an ancient crafts center for the production of metalwork, including such items associated with bullfighting as swords and banderillas, as well as ceramics and silk and woolen goods. The house of El Greco, now a museum, is located in Toledo.

In ancient times, Toledo (Toletum) was a settlement of the Iberian Carpetanian tribe, which was conquered by the Romans in the second century B.C. Toledo became the capital of the Visi-gothic state in the mid-sixth century. The city was captured by the Moors in 711, and its inhabitants staged numerous uprisings against the invaders during the eighth and ninth centuries. Toledo was conquered by Alfonso VI the Brave in 1085 and became the capital of Castile and León.

In 1479, Toledo became the capital of a united Spain. Beginning in the period of Arab supremacy, the city was a major crafts center, especially for the production of cold-forged steel and for leather processing. The 14th and 15th centuries witnessed the development of the manufacture of silk and other fabrics, ceramics, and jewelry. Madrid became the capital of Spain in 1561, and in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Toledo’s economic and political importance declined.

The plan of the city, conditioned by Toledo’s location at the bend of the Tajo River, took form in the Middle Ages. There are remains of a Roman circus, an aqueduct, medieval fortifications, the fortified bridges of San Martin (13th century; rebuilt in the 14th century) and of Alcántara (13th century; rebuilt in the 15th century), the Moorish gates of Puerta Vieja de Bisagra (ninth century), and the Puerta del Sol gates (c. 1100; rebuilt in the Mudejar architectural style in the early 14th century).

Architectural monuments in Toledo include the churches of Cristo de la Luz (formerly the mosque of Bib-al-Mardom, 960) and Santa María la Blanca (1180 to the 13th century), a Gothic cathedral whose basic structure dates from the 13th to 15th centuries, the Alcázar (rebuilt from the 16th to 18th centuries; the eastern facade dates from the 13th century, and the western facade, from the late 15th century), and the city hall (late 16th century). Toledo, which has been declared a national monument, has few modern buildings and has retained its medieval aspect.

REFERENCE

Malitskaia, K. M. Toledo—staraia stolitsa Ispanii. Moscow, 1968.