Although legend has it that Hercules was the founder of the city of Toledo, archaeological excavations tell about a Celt Iberian town that became an important Carpetana region. The city was taken over by the Roman Marco Fulbio Nobilior, who built Toletum over the Carpetans ruins, in the year 192 b.C.
During the 5th century the Barbarians invaded the Roman Empire on several occasions. The Alanis captured it in 411 but seven years later it ended up under the Visigoth domain.
In 569 the Gothic king Atanagildo set up his Court in Toledo, and with the King Leovigildo it went on to be the capital of the Hispanic-Goth Kingdom, which was the first independent peninsular state.
During this Visigoth rule (between the 6th and 7th centuries) the city became an Episcopal and Council metropolis, thus acquiring great civil and religious importance.
The Recaredo's conversion to Catholicism in the third Council of Toledo and the fortification of the city during the 7th century were two of the most important events during this period.
Moors conquered Toledo in 711 and its name was changed to "Tulaytulah". This occupation was long in the making. In 807 the Emir of Cordoba wanted to conquer this radical Moor population so a legate of the Emir planned a banquet at the governor's palace. The feast finished with the decapitation of five thousand Toledo citizens, their bodies were thrown in a pit and this event came to be known as "La Jornada del Foso" ("The Day of the Pit"). The partition of Al Andalus into small kingdoms in the 11th century gave independence to Toledo from Cordoba. This was the beginning of a splendid period of Muslim culture in Toledo.
In 1085 Alfonso VI re-conquered Toledo and made it a tolerant city where Christians, Muslims and Jews peacefully coexisted and were able to worship in their churches, mosques and synagogues without fear.
In the reign of Afonso X El Sabio (13th century) "La Escuela de Traductures" (the School of Translators) was established. Translations of Arabic and Jewish texts, along with translations of Greek works, made Toledo a European intellectual hub. From these translated works the rest of Europe was able to gain knowledge of Muslim and Hebrew culture and beliefs, and to rediscover the classical Greek teachings.
The calm existing among the three cultures during the 14th century was disintegrating. The persecution of Jews and the desire for their Christianization led to the beginning of the Inquisition. The inquisitors punished with cruel methods all those who did not live by the Christian faith. In 1492 the Catholic Monarchs expelled the Jewish community, which settled in Toledo in the Visigoth period, and allowed them back in the Jewish Quarter only if they paid a tax.
The roaming Court settled several times in Toledo when it was required and during the reign of Carlos I of Spain (after the defeat of the "Comuneros" who rejected the imperial policy) the city became the Seat of the Empire. This was a splendid time till Felipe II finally moved the Court capital to Madrid in 1563; it was then that Toledo lost its political force and its privilege with the monarchy.
The city began to decline, epidemics and crises took the city, industry decayed and palaces became property of diverse religious orders. In the 17th century there was a little bit of prosperity in the city due to the Illustration. The economy was able to recover some thanks to the Company of Factories and Commerce and the Factory of Arms. The Cardinal Lorenzana taught the poor population offices which also assisted in the recovery. The following century was not kind to Toledo though and the War of Succession and the War of Independence left their destructive marks on the city.
During the 19th century Toledo experienced rapid growth with the induction of the railroad, as well as indoor pluming and electrical power stations on the bank of the Tajo River. In the Civil War (1936-1939) Toledo fell entirely into Republican hands and Franco rescued the insurgents locked in Alcázar, a building that remains in ruins.
After the war the city started to expand outside its walls and undertook a new period of its history with vital energy. It is the capital of Castilla-La Mancha and was declared a World Heritage City by UNESCO in 1986.
