schickrobert: Toledo July 3-7

On Wednesday July 3 I traveled to Spain to attend the annual conference in Toledo of the Ernst Herzfeld Society for Islamic Art and Archaeology. This was my first trip to Spain.

On the morning of July 3, I flew with a number of others from the University of Bamberg from Nürnberg to Madrid via Paris, and then took a train to Toledo. I got a first opportunity to explore the exceptionally attractive old city on the way to my hotel.

The next day, Thursday July 4, I explored the old city of Toledo, before the opening session of the conference that evening. After the opening session, I joined the conference participants for a special tour of the well-preserved medieval El Transito Synagogue.

The conference continued on Friday July 5 and Saturday July 6. I gave my presentation about the excavations of the Burnt Palace in Madaba, Jordan on Saturday morning. The conference was held in the Royal Foundation of Madrid, adjacent to an art museum for the sculptor Victorio Macho.

The Royal Foundation of Madrid and Victorio Macho Museum on the right

The view from the Victorio Macho Art Museum

Saturday evening I joined the conference participants for a tour of the city. We went to the Mosque of Cristo de la Luz, a well-preserved 10^th-century mosque that was later converted into a church, where we got a tour by the excavator.

The Mosque / Church of Cristo de la Luz

The ceiling of the mosque

Our archaeologist guide, with Fernando Valdes, the conference organizer, behind.

The conference participants on the tour in front of the Cathedral of Saint Mary

On Sunday July 7 I joined the conference participants for a tour of the Puerta del Vado, one of the city gates.

The Puerta del Vado

Our guide speaking about his excavations below the gate

Afterwards, I walked around the city and went to the San Juan de los Reyes monastery and the Iglesia de los Jesuitas. There are lots of other sites to see in Toledo that I did not get to.