Issue date: 21 May, 2012
The Primate Cathedral of Toledo is the subject of this issue, which consists of a miniature sheet and a stamp featuring the main façade and an exterior view of the cathedral, respectively.
Building work began on the cathedral in 1226, when King Fernando III ”The Holy” and the archbishop Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada placed the first Stone over the foundations of the Visigoth church that had been used as a mosque.
In pure Gothic style with French influences, it is 120 metres long and 59 metres wide, with 750 richly ornamented stained glass windows. This church is divided into five naves, supported by 88 columns, with the lateral naves stretching behind the Main Chapel forming an ambulatory with a double semi-circular passage. In the 14th Century a cloister with a set of additional rooms was built and a century later the chapels of St. Peter and Santiago were added, with work finishing in 1493.
The Great Chapel occupies a pre-eminent position among the various chapels housed in the cathedral, with a polychrome and gold wooden altarpiece which has three pieces, with five horizontal sections, all finely worked with religious illustrations. The Tabernacle, carved in filigreed wood, is in the centre. The altarpiece is crowned with a large Crucifixion surrounded by a starry sky. The Great Chapel is closed off with a railing manufactured by Francisco de Villalpando, one of the most lavish of the Spanish Renaissance. Behind this chapel is the Transparent, a Baroque-style skylight through which light enters.
Other chapels worthy of note are the Mozarab, the St. Ildefonso, the Santiago, the New Kings, the San Blas and the Tabernacle. This last one houses the Virgin of the Tabernacle, patron saint of the city. The image is a wooden carving, plated in silver and covered with a cloak embroidered with gold and settings of precious stones. On her knees she holds the Child, also plated in silver.
Opposite the Great Chapel is the Choir, closed off with a railing worked by Domingo Céspedes in the 16th Century. The high stalls, with 72 seats, are considered unique. The right hand side was carved by Alonso Berruguete, son of the painter Pedro Berruguete, and the left part by Felipe Bigarny. The low Gothic seating is the work of the master Rodrigo Alemán and represents scenes from the conquest of Granada.
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