Explore Toledo-first capital of Spain during Europe Tour

• Toledo in Spain is a city that has witnessed more than 2000 years of history of various rulers of different era. The mention of the city is first cited by Roman Historian Livy (59BC-17BC). It is believed that.

• Roman general Marcus Fulvius Nobilior fought a battle near the city against Celtic tribes and defeating king Hilermus. The city later went on to become an important and most popular Roman city among the tourists, which has to be included in your Europe tour packages. It started to gain importance as a main commercial and administrative centre in the Roman era. After the defeat of the Romans, Toledo became the capital city of Visigothic kingdom, starting with king Leovigild. It was later conquered by the Moors in the early 8th century.

• Later, under the Umayyad Emirate of Cordoba, Toledo was the heart of many rebellions dating from mid 8th century to mid 9th century. Toledo experienced a period of co-existence of Jews, Muslims and Christians known as the La Convivencia.

• Under the Islamic Arab rule, Toledo was called Ṭulayṭulah. Due to the central location in the Iberian Peninsula, Toledo played an important role in the fight between the Muslim and Christian rulers of northern Spain. In 1085, the acquisition of Toledo by Alfonso VI of Castile was the first time a major city was captured by Christian forces; it served to sharpen the religious aspect of the Christian reconquest.

• Toledo remained a major cultural hub with its Arab libraries kept intact, and a team was dedicated for translation in which books in Hebrew or Arabic was translated into Castilian language by Muslim scholars and Jewish scholars and from Castilian into Latin by Castilian scholars, therefore, allowing the long lost knowledge transmit through Christian Europe.

• For some time during the 16th century, Toledo became the capital city of Castile, and flourished. However, the Spanish court was soon moved to Valladolid and then to Madrid. This led to the letting down of the importance of the city in the late 20th

• century, when it became the capital of the region of Castile-La Mancha. This can be more explained by tour manager during Europe tour from flamingo.

• The economic descent of the city helped to conserve its architectural and cultural heritage. It is today, because of its rich heritage, one of the most visited cities of Spain, receiving thousands of visitors every year. So explore this heritage city during your Europe tour.

• Under the Roman Catholic rule of Toledo multiple rebellions in the 7th century and stake burnings of Jews occurred. This kind of upsurges in the Kingdom of Toledo continued in the 14th and 15th centuries including forced conversions and mass murder and the rioting and blood bath of the Jews of Toledo.

• During the massacre of the Jews in the late 14th century and early 15th century, members of the Jewish community of Toledo formed documents on their long history in Toledo. It was during this time that an outstanding Jewish personality in Spain in the 15th century and one of the king's loyal courtiers called Don Isaac Abrabanel, who witnessed the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, wrote that Toledo was named Ṭulayṭulah by its first Jewish inhabitants who, according to him, settled here in the 5th century BC, which in Hebrew meant “wandering” as they did from Jerusalem.

• The Alcazar of Toledo became famous during the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, its brigade was famously swamped by Republican forces.

• Because of the introduction of various religions like Judaism, Islam and Christianity, the uniqueness of the city is its diversity of various civilizations found in its architectural masterpieces. Gifted with special location and the curvy Tagus river along with its population since ages, the city boasts of many beautiful and harmonious structures of different architectural styles. This is the must see place that can be included in your Spain Tour Packages.