Church of Santo Tome
For another day trip, my mom and I headed to Toledo, which was a short 30 minute train from downtown Madrid.
We hopped on the express train first thing in the morning and arrived in Toledo. We hightailed it over to Toledo. Secret: there are escalators up to the town on the right hand side as you approach it. They are within a parking garage!
I knew that the Church of Santo Tome had to be on the list. One of El Greco's paintings, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, (the link has a picture of the painting) is directly on the wall of the Church. It is one of the two paintings that he has on the "1001 paintings to see before you die" list. And it is the main (read: only) attraction in this Church.
We quickly got into the Church as I could see a few tour groups getting the summary outside. Boy, I was grateful we did -- the side Chapel is quite small. We could not even go into the other part of the Church. When we came outside, there was a queue of probably 60-80 people waiting to view the painting. It was 2.5 EUR to view the painting.
It is a gorgeous painting -- the colors and intensity are fantastic. It is quite large allowing a number of people to view the painting at once. The painting has two key parts, the earth and heavens. It was commissioned by the local parish priest at the time.
Time in church: 15 minutes
Time visited: 1
Overall: A-
We hopped on the express train first thing in the morning and arrived in Toledo. We hightailed it over to Toledo. Secret: there are escalators up to the town on the right hand side as you approach it. They are within a parking garage!
I knew that the Church of Santo Tome had to be on the list. One of El Greco's paintings, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, (the link has a picture of the painting) is directly on the wall of the Church. It is one of the two paintings that he has on the "1001 paintings to see before you die" list. And it is the main (read: only) attraction in this Church.
We quickly got into the Church as I could see a few tour groups getting the summary outside. Boy, I was grateful we did -- the side Chapel is quite small. We could not even go into the other part of the Church. When we came outside, there was a queue of probably 60-80 people waiting to view the painting. It was 2.5 EUR to view the painting.
It is a gorgeous painting -- the colors and intensity are fantastic. It is quite large allowing a number of people to view the painting at once. The painting has two key parts, the earth and heavens. It was commissioned by the local parish priest at the time.
Time in church: 15 minutes
Time visited: 1
Overall: A-
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