The Primatial Cathedral of Toledo is one of the great Gothic churches of Spain and was, for centuries, the most powerful religious seat in the country. It looms at the heart of the old city, its single tower visible from almost every approach. Inside, the scale is extraordinary — five naves, dozens of side chapels, and a treasury that reads like a catalogue of centuries of accumulated wealth.
The Sacristy is worth the entrance fee alone. El Greco painted thirteen works here, including his famous El Expolio — Christ's garment being stripped before the crucifixion. The subjects press in from all sides, and Greco crowds the frame so tightly you can feel the claustrophobia of the scene. The treasury houses an outsized gold monstrance, used once a year in the Corpus Christi procession, which requires eight men to carry it through the streets.
Plan at least ninety minutes. The audio guide is good and the building repays slow attention — look up at the painted vault, sideways at the carved choir stalls, and through the great window of the transparente at the light falling from above.