Spain: Julien Payen (Learning on Excursions)

Program: WIP Madrid English, Spring

One of the most culturally important excursions that I’ve taken as a part of my study abroad experience thus far has been to Toledo, a city an hour from Madrid that is appropriately nicknamed the “city of three cultures”, as it is a historically significant site for Spanish Christians, Muslims and Jews.

The river Tagus surrounds the Old City and mountains surround Toledo (pictured left), giving us the opportunity to overlook the city from above, and imagine how it felt almost one thousand years ago to enter one of the most important cities in Spanish history.

The first site that we toured on our excursion was the Cathedral of Toledo, which began construction in 1226 and became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1986. In learning about the history of the cathedral, we explored the connections between Muslim-inspired architecture and the conversion of Spain from a majority-Muslim to a majority-Catholic country.

We also walked through the Jewish quarter, where we discussed and visited two of the most important synagogues in Spain; El Tránsito and Santa María La Blanca. While Santa María La Blanca was later converted into a church, El Tránsito still serves as an homage to the Jewish populations of Spain and even includes a small museum of Jewish artifacts.

Overall, attending this excursion helped to deepen my knowledge on the interactions between the three religions, which is a major focus in several of my classes, and provided an amazing opportunity to visit the historic sites that surround Madrid.