Hostal del Cardenal

A few years ago we spent a weekend in Toledo in low season. Since we didn’t feel like walking we decided to stay in a hotel close to the entrance to the city.

Since it was lunchtime we decided to go into the Hostal del Cardenal. We went in a bit contrived because it is located in the same wall, next to the Alfonso VI Gate. First you go into a French-style garden, a paradise. It is very impressive. This area was converted into a small summer palace for the Cister Cardinal who had the responsibility of protecting the entrance to the city.

The place is all luxury full of details and with the innovations corresponding to a three star hotel. You breathe history, peace and a variety of details.

In 1085, Alfonso VI, taking advantage of the consequences of the disappearance of the caliphate and the transformation into independent kingdoms, took Toledo away from the Muslims in what was the last Christian victory until the Batlle of las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. The king asked the Pope Gregory VII for the creation of a metropolitan diocese, which was commissioned to Bernardo de Cluny, the first archbishop and head of the Spanish church. It took custody of all the walled area next to the Bisagra Gate. This is the location of the Hotel del Cardenal, which takes advantage of an old palace from the 18th Century that has been carefully restored.