San Juan de los Reyes and Santa María la Blanca

They are two monuments a hundred metres apart, at the western end of the Jewish quarter, and can be seen well in an hour and a half. San Juan de los Reyes is the Franciscan monastery that the Catholic Monarchs commissioned, with one of the most beautiful Gothic cloisters in the city. Santa María la Blanca was Toledo's main synagogue: a forest of white horseshoe arches that Toledo Tourism considers the best example of Almohad art in Spain.

San Juan de los Reyes

The Catholic Monarchs had it built to commemorate the Battle of Toro, of 1476, and the birth of Prince John, in 1478, and intended it as their pantheon, although in the end they were buried in the Royal Chapel in Granada. The design is by Juan Guas; works began in 1477, with Enrique Egas, and the Flemish Egas Cueman worked on the decoration. It is Hispano-Flemish Gothic.

Outside, look at the chains hanging from the walls: Toledo tradition links them with the Christian captives freed from the Nasrid kingdom of Granada. Inside, the church has a single nave with chapels between the buttresses, an octagonal lantern and the coats of arms of the Catholic Monarchs held by eagles. The two-storey cloister is what people like most: below, reliefs of plants, fantastical animals and human figures; above, wooden ceilings and gargoyles of curious shapes. The ticket includes church, cloister, former sacristy, balcony and royal gallery. It suffered badly from Napoleonic troops and the confiscation of church property, and was restored by Arturo Mélida at the end of the 19th century; Franciscans live there again today.

Santa María la Blanca

It was the main synagogue of Toledo's Jewish community. Its origin is uncertain: sources date it between the end of the 12th century and the 13th, and in the 15th century it became a church. Inside there are five aisles separated by horseshoe arches on octagonal pillars, with capitals decorated with pine cones and bands of plasterwork over the white walls. It was later a refuge for repentant women, a barracks and a warehouse. Outside there is a small garden with cypresses.

Hours and tickets

Both are open every day. From 16 October to 28 February, 10:00 to 17:45; from 1 March to 15 October, 10:00 to 18:45. The ticket offices close earlier: 20 minutes at San Juan de los Reyes and 10 at Santa María la Blanca. They close on 1 January and 25 December, and on 24 and 31 December they open only until 13:00.

Each costs €4; ages 11 to 16, students and youth card, €3. Small children go in free. Both are included in the tourist wristband, at €14, valid for seven days for seven monuments, among them Santo Tomé, El Salvador and the Cristo de la Luz mosque: if you are going to see three or more, it pays off. In both you can take photos without flash. At San Juan de los Reyes there is an audio guide in four languages, paid separately, and daily masses; during services you enter the church through the main door.

How to combine it

From San Juan de los Reyes you walk down in five minutes to the San Martín bridge, where the zipline over the Tagus starts. Up the street are the Tránsito Synagogue and Santo Tomé, so the four make a good morning route through the Jewish quarter.