The Cathedral of Toledo, founded by St. Ferdinand in 1227, is one of the three 13th century High Gothic cathedrals in Spain. It was built on the site of a Visigothic church and was modeled after the Bourges Cathedral though its five naves plan is the consequence of the constructors’ intention to cover all the sacred space of the former City Mosque with the cathedral. The spectacular incorporation of light and the structural achievements of the ambulatory vaults are some of its more remarkable aspects. One of its more outstanding parts is the Baroque altar called El Transparente, several stories high, with fantastic figures of stucco, painting, bronze castings, and multiple colors of marble, a masterpiece of Baroque mixed media. A shaft of sunlight striking it through an appropriately oriented hole in the roof gives the impression that the whole altar is rising to heaven. It is from the play of light that this feature of the cathedral derives its name. The Cathedral also receives its light through more than 750 stained glass windows, from the l4th, 15th and l6th centuries, the work of the best artists of those times. The treasury, reliquaries and library contain many priceless manuscripts and works of art, including the silver monstrance executed by Enrique de Arfe, and paintings by Goya, El Greco, Titian and Rubens.

The city of Toledo is the capital of the Spanish province of Toledo and formerly of the whole country, 47 miles south-southwest of Madrid. It has an ancient history. According to an old Spanish tradition, Toledo was founded in the year 540 BCE by Jewish colonists, who named it Toledoch, that is, mother of people. Toledo later served as the capital city of Visigothic Spain and was the capital until the Moors conquered Iberia in the 8th century. Under the Caliphate of Cordoba, Toledo enjoyed a golden age. This extensive period is known as La Convivencia, i.e., the co-existence of Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

This is one of the few cathedral medals that was engraved by Charles, not Jacques, Wiener.

LINK to Cathedral of Toledo (from wikipedia)

 LINK to El Transparente altar