Church of San Bartolomé (Toledo) facts for kids

The Church of San Bartolomé in Toledo

The church's ancient tower

The Church of San Bartolomé is a very old church in Toledo, a city in Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It stands inside the old walled city. You can find it near the corner of San Bartolomé street and Cristo de la Para street. It's also not far from the big Cathedral of Santa María.

History of the Church

This church was built in the Mudéjar style. This means it mixes Christian and Islamic art styles. Over many years, the church has been rebuilt and changed several times.

Around the late 1400s, some changes were made to the church's original design. Small chapels were added inside the walls near the altar area. These chapels were used as burial places.

In the 1800s, the church was updated to become part of a convent for nuns. The Jerónimas de la Reina nuns moved into the palace next door. Empress Eugénie de Montijo gave them this palace. At first, an alley separated the palace and the church. But in 1877, a wall was built to connect them.

More work was done on the church in 1957. After that, it became a home for priests. Today, it is a Major Seminary, which is a school for training priests. Even with all these changes, the old palace building still looks much like it did in the Renaissance period.

In 1998, the Spanish government recognized the church as a Property of Cultural Interest. This means it's a very important historical building.

What the Church Looks Like

The oldest parts of the church date back to 1145. However, the main altar area, called the apse, seems to be from the 1200s. It looks similar to other churches in Toledo, like the Cristo de la Vega and San Vicente.

The Church Tower

The tower is the oldest part of the church. It used to be outside the main building. But now, it's part of the church's side aisle. Workers found out how old it was during repairs in 1940.

The tower was built like a Muslim minaret, which is a tall tower from a mosque. It's very similar to the tower of the Church of Santiago, Toledo.

• Inside, it has a central pillar and brick steps.
• Outside, the brickwork frames the stone layers.
• It has a special window with two horseshoe arches and a square frame, just like the Santiago del Arrabal church.

Some old carvings from the Visigoth period (an ancient kingdom) were reused in the tower's walls. Experts think the tower was built in the early 1200s.

How the Church Was Built

The church has been rebuilt many times, changing its original shape. The first mention of the church is from 1145. But the main altar area, or apse, was likely built later, around the end of the 1200s.

Like other churches from that time, it probably started with just one main room, or nave. You can see how thick the old outer walls of the apse are. These walls were later used to create small chapels in the late 1400s.

Later, the church was made bigger, from one room to three rooms. This created a challenge to connect the new rooms to the existing apse. They solved this by adding two square spaces. The outside walls of these new spaces look just like the central apse. They have arches on the first floor, special arches on the second, and horseshoe arches on the top. Because they were built around the same time, the building style is very similar.

See also

In Spanish: Iglesia de San Bartolomé (Toledo) para niños