España romanica: the former synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca in Toledo (4 photos)
I said before that the city of Toledo is famous for having been home to communities of Christians, Muslims and Jews, successively and/or simultaneously. Today, Santa Maria la Blanca is indeed a church belonging to the bishopric of Toledo, even though it is deconsecrated and used as a museum. But, in a typically Toledan manner, it first was a synagogue, built in 1180 on Christian land by Muslim (“Mudéjar”) masons funded by Jewish monies! By 1180, Toledo had been reconquered by the Christians for almost a century but the Mudéjar community was obviously still very much present and active. They were probably expert masons as well, if the Jews chose them to build their temple.
Sadly, the Jews were driven out of Toledo like they were from so many cities in Spain. This happened around 1350–1400, and in 1405 the monument was turned into a Catholic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was dubbed la Blanca (“the White”) because of its whitewashed walls.
Its design as a synagogue is very interesting as it features five naves separated by columns supporting horseshoe arches, geometric friezes and leafy capital motifs typical of the Mudéjar art, but no gallery reserved for women as is normally the case in synagogues. It is of course not an issue for a Catholic church.
Listed as a Historic Landmark since 1930, the Church of Spain intended to exchange it with the religious authorities of Israel against the “Cenacle” (literally, “the room for meals”), also known as the Upper Room in King David’s Tomb on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, where The Last Supper purportedly took place —although that is of course just tradition, not confirmed by any historical evidence. However, that exchange has not taken place to date.
The very gracious horseshoe arches. I will repeat hereunder what I already explained a few days ago about those arches, when visiting the Cristo de la Luz church, an ex-mosque.
About the horseshoe arch and other so-called “Mozarab” art
One often reads that the famous “horseshoe arch” (arc outrepassé in French) is a creation of the so-called “Mozarab” art, i.e., the art developed by Christian communities living under Islamic rule in occupied Spain (that is between 711, date of the first defeat of Wisigoth King in Guadalete, and 1085, which, in practice, concludes the Reconquista period with the fall of Toledo —although Grenade will not be recaptured until 1492). In other words, the Christians would have adopted this type of arch under the influence of the Muslims (who themselves used it a lot) so as to make their Christian faith more “acceptable” to the invaders by placating them through the use of architectural features that would be construed as “admiration”.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
The truth is that the horseshoe arch, since we are concerning ourselves only with this example, was invented, not by the Muslims in the 8th century or later and “imitated” by the “Mozarabs”, but by the Romans, during the 5th century and as a variant of the barrel vault that would later symbolize Romanesque architecture.
The horseshoe arch was subsequently used in abundance in Wisigothic architecture, and that is precisely where the Muslims picked it up, beholding the Wisigothic monuments of the lands they were occupying in the Iberian peninsula. They in turn used it widely, the most famous example being the mosque in Cordoba. They of course adapted it slightly, making it deeper than the original Wisigothic version, and it is mainly that deeper version that was used by the so-called “Mozarab” communities, but it was never invented by the Arabs, as many (ignorant?) writers would have us believe.
Now, it is possible that the aforementioned Christian communities did also intend to placate the occupants by using the horseshoe arch, but in doing so, they knew quite well that they were, in fact, paying homage to their very own Wisigothic and Christian traditions, a homage that was all the more sweet because it couldn’t be prohibited by the Muslim occupants...!
España romanica: the former synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca in Toledo (4 photos)
I said before that the city of Toledo is famous for having been home to communities of Christians, Muslims and Jews, successively and/or simultaneously. Today, Santa Maria la Blanca is indeed a church belonging to the bishopric of Toledo, even though it is deconsecrated and used as a museum. But, in a typically Toledan manner, it first was a synagogue, built in 1180 on Christian land by Muslim (“Mudéjar”) masons funded by Jewish monies! By 1180, Toledo had been reconquered by the Christians for almost a century but the Mudéjar community was obviously still very much present and active. They were probably expert masons as well, if the Jews chose them to build their temple.
Sadly, the Jews were driven out of Toledo like they were from so many cities in Spain. This happened around 1350–1400, and in 1405 the monument was turned into a Catholic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was dubbed la Blanca (“the White”) because of its whitewashed walls.
Its design as a synagogue is very interesting as it features five naves separated by columns supporting horseshoe arches, geometric friezes and leafy capital motifs typical of the Mudéjar art, but no gallery reserved for women as is normally the case in synagogues. It is of course not an issue for a Catholic church.
Listed as a Historic Landmark since 1930, the Church of Spain intended to exchange it with the religious authorities of Israel against the “Cenacle” (literally, “the room for meals”), also known as the Upper Room in King David’s Tomb on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, where The Last Supper purportedly took place —although that is of course just tradition, not confirmed by any historical evidence. However, that exchange has not taken place to date.
The very gracious horseshoe arches. I will repeat hereunder what I already explained a few days ago about those arches, when visiting the Cristo de la Luz church, an ex-mosque.
About the horseshoe arch and other so-called “Mozarab” art
One often reads that the famous “horseshoe arch” (arc outrepassé in French) is a creation of the so-called “Mozarab” art, i.e., the art developed by Christian communities living under Islamic rule in occupied Spain (that is between 711, date of the first defeat of Wisigoth King in Guadalete, and 1085, which, in practice, concludes the Reconquista period with the fall of Toledo —although Grenade will not be recaptured until 1492). In other words, the Christians would have adopted this type of arch under the influence of the Muslims (who themselves used it a lot) so as to make their Christian faith more “acceptable” to the invaders by placating them through the use of architectural features that would be construed as “admiration”.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
The truth is that the horseshoe arch, since we are concerning ourselves only with this example, was invented, not by the Muslims in the 8th century or later and “imitated” by the “Mozarabs”, but by the Romans, during the 5th century and as a variant of the barrel vault that would later symbolize Romanesque architecture.
The horseshoe arch was subsequently used in abundance in Wisigothic architecture, and that is precisely where the Muslims picked it up, beholding the Wisigothic monuments of the lands they were occupying in the Iberian peninsula. They in turn used it widely, the most famous example being the mosque in Cordoba. They of course adapted it slightly, making it deeper than the original Wisigothic version, and it is mainly that deeper version that was used by the so-called “Mozarab” communities, but it was never invented by the Arabs, as many (ignorant?) writers would have us believe.
Now, it is possible that the aforementioned Christian communities did also intend to placate the occupants by using the horseshoe arch, but in doing so, they knew quite well that they were, in fact, paying homage to their very own Wisigothic and Christian traditions, a homage that was all the more sweet because it couldn’t be prohibited by the Muslim occupants...!