Cathedral of Toledo - The Cloister

The Cloister

On the site of the old al-cana or alcana (Jewish commercial district), on the north side of the cathedral, Archbishop Pedro Tenorio planned the cloister and a chapel which would serve as his sepulchre.

The building of the Cloister was begun on 14 August 1389, and finished in 1425. The architect Rodrigo Alfonso and master builder Alvar Martínez supervised the construction of the four corridors with quadripartite vaults. The history of the building was not without intrigue. Since the local market fair was held in the very place where Archbishop Pedro Tenorio planned to build his cloister, the owners of the stands and shops there were reluctant from the start. The historian Eugenio Narbona recounted the desire of the archbishop to occupy as soon as possible the site of "the markets, which is the place where the merchandise is sold." During negotiations between the archbishop and the owners over purchase and price, a massive fire destroyed the entire market. Tenorio took advantage of this fortuitous event for his own purposes, and here enters the legend—he was accused of having caused the disaster to facilitate his acquisition of the desired plots.

Given the topography of its location, the ground level for the foundations of the cloister was raised nearly five feet above the level of the floor plan of the cathedral, and in a way that it could in future support the weight of the two heights, which came to pass upon the investiture of Cardinal Cisneros. Archbishop Tenorio did not spare any effort in ensuring that the grandeur and majesty of the cloister was worthy of a Gothic cathedral. In the galleries on the ground floor there is a series of frescoes depicting scenes of the lives of the Saints Eugenio, Casilda, and Eladio. Eleven of these are by Bayeu and two by de Maella.

It is worth noting that there being no monastic order in the cathedral, the cloister and other sections built along its perimeter had very different functions at various times: from storeroom to classroom, and as a centre of mercantile transactions (regaining the sense of the old alcana), or of prayer (one of its rooms was a Mozarabic chapel). The Cloister later served as the town hall.