The Mosque of Las Tornerías is one of Toledo's two surviving mosques — the other is Cristo de la Luz — and a significant fragment of the city's Arab past. Built in the 11th century in the Caliphate style, it preserves its original horseshoe arches and the structure of its two-aisled prayer hall. After the Reconquista it became a small craft workshop space before being recognized as a national monument.
Today it functions as an exhibition space for Toledo's traditional crafts — particularly the city's famous damascened metalwork, the black steel inlaid with gold and silver thread that has been made here since the Moorish period. The combination of Islamic architecture and Toledo craft tradition in one building makes it one of the more unusual stops in the city.
The mosque is tiny — it takes about twenty minutes to see properly. It sits in the tangle of streets near Zocodover, in what was the commercial heart of Muslim Toledo. The whole district of narrow lanes, stepped passages, and buildings with Mudéjar details repays slow walking.