The Museo de los Concilios of Toledo !!

Posted in Europe, Madrid, Spain

I bring you back to another of my favorite cities of my dear Spain. And many times visited with family nearby over the years, and of course, never enough written on it, I do have several posts on the city of Toledo, in the autonomous community of Castilla La Mancha ,and in the kingdom of Spain. I have split this older post to give more disclosure of their beauty , architecture and history of Toledo. Toledo is about 71 km (about 44 miles) from Madrid. However, let me tell you here about the off the beaten paths of wonderful museums ,such as the Museo de los Concilios of Toledo. Hope you enjoy the post as I

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The Museo de los Concilios or Councilor museum and the Visigoth culture, located in the Church of San Román, has Romanesque paintings from the 13C and an important collection, original and replicas, of goldsmith Visigoth, along with other archaeological finds dated between the 6C to 8C. The Visigothic Council and Culture Museum was created in 1969 as a subsidiary of the Santa Cruz Museum. Having its headquarters in the Church of San Román, it is also known as the San Román Museum. The museum opened in 1971.

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The museum in the Church of San Román of which the church origins,are only partial data, could be traced back to the Visigothic period, since a crypt identified as an apse was discovered under the main chapel in 1968 built at that time, although some hypotheses attributed to Roman times by the vaults that support the staircase of the tower. Later it was perhaps used as a mosque since until 1572 Islamic sepulchral lauds were preserved in it. Documentary it is cited as a Latin parish for the first time in the early   12C, in 1125, although the current parish corresponds to the church consecrated in 1221. The tradition places in this church the proclamation of Alfonso VIII as heir of Castile in 1161 by the mayor of Toledo Esteban Illán, buried in one of the chapels.

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The structure is simple: it has a basilica plan with three naves, the tallest and widest central, separated by horseshoe-shaped arches with alternate segments framed in alfiz. They are supported on columns of Roman shaft attached to brick pillars, on which twelve capitals of different sizes are located, of which five are Visigoths, six Mozarabic 9-10C, and one of Byzantine tradition. The materials that are exhibited in the Museum of the Visigothic Councils and Culture, and that testify to the importance of the Visigothic court of Toledo from the last third of the 6C, come from the funds of the Museum of Santa Cruz, (see this post)  coming from excavations taken to out in the province of Toledo (Vega Baja, Bayuela Castle, Carpio de Tajo, etc.). All the exhibited pieces are the only vestige that are conserve of what were the civil and religious constructions of the city in Visigothic time, since no original construction is still standing. Museography distributes the archaeological pieces in different thematic blocks that help us understand the general characteristics of the Visigothic culture and its material expressions. 

It was essential to dedicate a section in the Councilor museum , understood as assemblies of bishops and nobles presided over by the king, continuing the Roman synodal tradition. Although the celebration of the Councils of Toledo begins already under Roman rule, it will be with the consolidation of the Visigothic state when they receive a real boost. In this sense it is necessary to highlight the celebration of the Third Council, in 589, in which King Recaredo formalized his conversion and that of the Godo people to Catholicism, abandoning Arianism. As of this moment the integration of the Hispanic-Romans in the Visigothic state took place!

The Toledo tourist office on the Councilors’ museum : https://turismo.toledo.es/recursos/museos-y-monumentos/id631-museo-de-los-concilios-y-la-cultura-visigoda-iglesia-de-san-roman.html

There you go folks, something unique in lovely Toledo, worth the detour , me think. The museum is a wonderful historical ,architecturally stunning building, that are to be admired and visited. Again,hope you have enjoy this post on the Museo de los Concilios of Toledo as I.

And remember, happy travel, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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