Mezquita-Iglesia de El Salvador, Toledo facts for kids
The Iglesia de El Salvador is a church located in Toledo, Spain. It was completed in the year 1159.
Even though it's a small church, it's very special. This building stands on the site of four different constructions, built one after another over many centuries. It's a 12th-century Christian church that was built on an 11th-century Taifa mosque. That mosque was an expansion of an earlier 9th-century Umayyad mosque. And that mosque, in turn, was built on a much older Visigothic religious building.
A Look at its History
The Church of El Salvador is found in the city of Toledo. It is near the Churches of Santo Tomé and Convento de Santa Úrsula. This church is even mentioned in a famous old Spanish book called Lazarillo de Tormes. Important historical figures were baptized here, including Joanna of Castile, also known as "Joanna the Mad," and the famous writer Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla.
The current church was built on top of the mosque that was there before. Because of this, the church faces southeast, which was the direction toward Mecca for the mosque. When the church was built, workers reused many parts from the older Visigothic building. For example, you can still see an arcade with horseshoe arches. These arches rest on old Visigothic pilasters that have unique carved decorations.
One special pilaster, called the Pilaster of El Salvador, shows scenes from the life of Jesus. These include the Cure of the Blind, the Resurrection of Lazarus, the Samaritan, and the Hemorroísa. There are also other carvings that remind us of Christ as a savior. The way these carvings look shows that stone carving was not as detailed back then.
The church tower used to be the mosque's minaret, which is a tall tower where calls to prayer were made. It still has some old decorations. In 1159, Christians made changes to it. Later, in the late 15th century, the Gothic chapel of Santa Catalina was added. The top part of the tower, where the bells are, was added much later in a style called Baroque.
The church is dedicated to Saint Savior. In the 15th century, the church had a fire. This meant it needed a lot of repair work. Álvarez de Toledo was in charge of fixing it. He also added new chapels, with the chapel of Santa Catalina being a very important one.
See also
In Spanish: Iglesia de El Salvador (Toledo) para niños
