Editing Toledo, Spain (section)

==History==
{{main|History of Toledo, Spain}}
{{For timeline}}

===Roman era and late antiquity===

Toledo ({{langx|la|Toletum}}) is described by the Roman historian [[Livy]] (ca. 59 BCE – 17 CE) as ''urbs parva, sed loco munita'' ("a small city, but fortified by location"). Roman general [[Marcus Fulvius Nobilior (consul 189 BC)|Marcus Fulvius Nobilior]] fought a battle near the city in 193 BCE against a confederation of [[Celts|Celtic]] tribes, defeating them and capturing a king called Hilermus.<ref>{{cite book|author=John S. Richardson|title=The Romans in Spain|publisher=Blackwell|date=1996|page=54}}</ref><ref>Livy, ''History of Rome'', 35, 22</ref> At that time, Toletum was a city of the [[Carpetani]] tribe in the region of [[Carpetania]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rubio Rivera|first1=Rebeca|title=Continuidad y cambio en el proceso de romanización del ámbito celtibérico meridional y carpetano|url=https://www.academia.edu/2085388|website=academia.edu|date=January 2008|access-date=7 November 2015}}</ref> It was incorporated into the [[Roman Empire]] as a ''[[civitas stipendiaria]]'', (a tributary city of non-citizens) and later a [[municipium]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tsiolis|first1=Vassilis|title=El primer recinto amurallado de Toledo|url=https://www.academia.edu/11311342|website=academia.edu|access-date=7 November 2015}}</ref> With this status, city officials obtained [[Roman citizenship]] for public service, and the forms of [[Roman law]] and politics were increasingly adopted.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kulikowski|first1=Michael|title=Late Roman Spain and Its Cities|date=2004|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|location=Baltimore}}</ref> At approximately this time, a [[Circus (building)|Roman circus]], city walls, [[Thermae|public baths]], and a municipal water supply and storage system were constructed in Toletum.<ref name="scribd.com">{{cite web|last1=Rubio Rivera|first1=Rebeca|title=El circo romano de Toledo y la Vega Baja en época romana|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/265093313/Art-Circo-Romano-Rebeca-Rubio-1|website=scribd.com|access-date=24 November 2015}}</ref>

The Roman circus in Toledo was one of the largest in [[Hispania]]. The circus could hold up to 15,000 spectators. A fragmentary stone inscription records circus games paid for by a citizen of unknown name to celebrate his achieving the sevirate, a kind of priesthood conferring high status.<ref name="scribd.com" /> Games were held in the circus late into the 4th and early 5th centuries, an indication of active city life and ongoing patronage by wealthy elites.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rubio Rivera|first1=Rebeca|title=El Circo Romano de Toledo y la Vega Baja en Época Romana|date=2001|pages=38–39|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/265093313/Art-Circo-Romano-Rebeca-Rubio-1|access-date=25 November 2015}}</ref> 

Toledo started to gain importance in late antiquity. There are indications that large private houses (''domus'') within the city walls were enlarged, while several large villas were built north of the city through the 3rd and 4th centuries.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rubio Rivera|first1=Rebeca|title=El Circo Romano de Toledo y la Vega Baja en Época Romana|date=2001|page=51|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/265093313/Art-Circo-Romano-Rebeca-Rubio-1|access-date=25 November 2015}}</ref> Church councils were held in Toledo in the years [[First Council of Toledo|400]] and [[Second Council of Toledo|527]] to discuss the conflict with [[Priscillianism]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Richardson|first1=John|title=The Romans in Spain|date=1996|publisher=Blackwell}}</ref> In 546 (or possibly earlier), [[Visigoth]] rulers installed the capital of their kingdom in Toledo.<ref>{{Cite journal|journal=Memorias de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona|year=2000|volume=25|pages=447–448|title=Barcino, de sede imperial a ''vrbs regia'' en época visigoda|first1=Josep M.|url=https://www.raco.cat/index.php/MemoriasRABL/article/view/23775/23613|last1=Gurt Esparraguera|first2=Cristina|last2=Godoy Fernández}}</ref> King [[Theudis]] was in Toledo in 546, where he promulgated the only law of which records remain from the period, known from a single manuscript.<ref name="Late Roman Spain and Its Cities">{{cite book |last1=Kulikowski |first1=Michael |url=https://archive.org/details/lateromanspainit00kuli |title=Late Roman Spain and Its Cities |date=2004 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=9780801879784 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lateromanspainit00kuli/page/n289 265] |url-access=limited}}</ref>

Throughout the 7th century, a series of further church councils—the so-called [[Councils of Toledo]]—attempted to reconcile differing theological views and enacted anti-Jewish laws.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Visigothic Spain, 409–711|url=https://archive.org/details/visigothicspaina00coll|url-access=limited|date=2004|publisher=Blackwell|page=[https://archive.org/details/visigothicspaina00coll/page/n66 57]|isbn=9780631181859}}</ref> By the end of the 7th century, the bishop of Toledo was the leader of all other bishops in Hispania, a situation unusual in Europe. The city was also unmatched as a symbolic center of monarchy.<ref name="Arab Conquest of Spain">{{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Roger |title=Arab Conquest of Spain |date=1989 |publisher=Blackwell |page=9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Arab Conquest of Spain|date=1989|publisher=Blackwell|page=43}}</ref>

When internal divisions developed under the Visigothic nobles, [[Tariq bin Ziyad]] captured Toledo in 711 or 712<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Visigothic Spain, 409–711|url=https://archive.org/details/visigothicspaina00coll|url-access=limited|date=2004|publisher=Blackwell|page=[https://archive.org/details/visigothicspaina00coll/page/n143 134]|isbn=9780631181859}}</ref> on behalf of the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad Caliphate of Damascus]] as part of the [[Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula]]. Tariq's superior, Governor Musa, disembarked in [[Cádiz]] and proceeded to Toledo, where he executed the Visigothic nobles, destroying much of the existing power structure.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Visigothic Spain, 409–711|url=https://archive.org/details/visigothicspaina00coll|url-access=limited|date=2004|publisher=Blackwell|page=[https://archive.org/details/visigothicspaina00coll/page/n142 133]|isbn=9780631181859}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Arab Conquest of Spain|date=1989|publisher=Blackwell|page=30}}</ref>

===Middle Ages===
[[File:España - Toledo - Baño Árabe 001.JPG|thumb|[[Baños de Tenerías]], one of the Muslim baths in the city]]
Following the Umayyad conquest, invaders were ethnically diverse, and available evidence suggests that in the area of Toledo (locally known as {{Langx|ar|طُلَيْطِلَة|Ṭulayṭilah}} under Islamic rule), [[Berbers|Berber]] settlement predominated over [[Arab]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Roger |title=Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–797 |date=1989 |publisher=Blackwell |page=195}}</ref> In 742, the Berbers in Al-Andalus rebelled against the Arab Umayyad governors. They took control of the north and unsuccessfully laid siege to the city.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–797|date=1989|publisher=Blackwell|pages=108–110|edition=Paperback 1994}}</ref>

The city retained its importance as a literary and ecclesiastical centre well into the mid-8th century, as the [[Chronicle of 754]] demonstrated.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–797|date=1989|publisher=Blackwell|pages=57–80|edition=Paperback 1994}}</ref> During this period, several letters show of the primacy that the church of Toledo held.{{Refn|group=n.|"Not only were its clerics still well enough equipped in intellectual terms to provide authoritative guidance on a wide range of ecclesiastical discipline and doctrine, but this was also actively sought."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–797|date=1989|publisher=Blackwell|page=72|edition=Paperback 1994}}</ref>}}

Under the Umayyad [[Emirate of Cordoba]], Toledo was the centre of numerous insurrections against the Cordobese government from 761 to 857.<ref>Roger Collins, ''Early Medieval Spain: Unity in Diversity, 400–1000'', (St. Martin's Press, 1995), 187.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Roger |title=Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–797 |date=1989 |publisher=Blackwell |edition=Paperback 1994 |page=172, 201–203}}</ref> Girbib ibn-Abdallah, a poet from Toledo, wrote verses against the Umayyads, helping to inspire a revolt in the city against the new emir in 797.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–797|date=1989|publisher=Blackwell|pages=209–210|edition=Paperback 1994}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Caliphs and Kings: Spain, 796–1031|date=2014|publisher=Wiley Blackwell|pages=32–33|edition=Paperback 2014}}</ref> By the end of the 8th century, the Umayyads had made Toledo the administrative center of the [[Central March]] of Al-Andalus.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Caliphs and Kings: Spain, 796–1031|date=2014|publisher=Wiley Blackwell|pages=27–28|edition=Paperback 2014}}</ref><!--[[File:View of Toledo, AD 976.jpg|thumb|270x270px|Depiction of ''people from Toledo'' in AD 976, from the 10th-century [[Codex Vigilanus]].]]--> In 852, a new revolt broke out in Toledo. The Umayyad governor was held hostage to secure the return of Toledan hostages held in Córdoba. In reprisal for a prior attack by Toledans, emir [[Muhammad I of Córdoba|Muhammad I]] sent an army to attack them, but was defeated. Toledo allied with King [[Ordoño I]] of Asturias. They fought together at the Battle of Guadacelete but lost. Later in 857, the Toledans attacked [[Talavera de la Reina|Talavera]] but were again defeated. In 859, Muhammad I negotiated a truce with Toledo. Though locked in conflict with neighboring cities, the city became virtually independent for twenty years. Cordobese authorities re-asserted control over Toledo in 873, after the successful Umayyad siege on the city, which forced defenders to submit.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Caliphs and Kings: Spain, 796–1031|date=2014|publisher=Wiley Blackwell|pages=43–44, 47|edition=Paperback 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Caliphs and Kings: Spain, 796–1031|date=2014|publisher=Wiley Blackwell|pages=79–81|edition=Paperback 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Caliphs and Kings: Spain, 796–1031|date=2014|publisher=Wiley Blackwell|page=171|edition=Paperback 2014}}</ref> The [[Banu Qasi]] gained nominal control of Toledo until 920. A new period of unruliness followed in the 920 and 930s,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Caliphs and Kings: Spain, 796–1031|date=2014|publisher=Wiley Blackwell|page=145|edition=Paperback 2014}}</ref> until Caliph [[Abd-ar-Rahman III]] captured the city in 932 after an extensive siege.<ref>Ann Christys, ''Christians in Al-Andalus 711–1000'', (Curzon Press, 2002), 20.</ref>
[[File:Location map Taifa of Toledo.svg|thumb|Territory controlled by the Taifa of Toledo circa 1037]]
In the wake of the early 11th-century [[Fitna of al-Andalus]], Toledo became the centre of an independent polity, the so-called [[Taifa of Toledo]], under the rule of the [[Dhulnunid dynasty|Dhu l-Nunid]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://al-qantara.revistas.csic.es/index.php/al-qantara/article/view/402/397|page=17|title=The emergence of the Taifa Kingdom of Toledo|first=David J.|last=Wasserstein|volume=21|issue=1|year=2000|journal=Al Qantara|publisher=[[Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas]]|location=Madrid|doi=10.3989/alqantara.2000.v21.i1.402|s2cid=159516994 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The population of Toledo at this time was about 28,000, including a Jewish population of 4,000.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Reilly|first1=Bernard F.|title=Contest of Christian and Muslim Spain 1031–1157|date=1992|publisher=Blackwell|pages=5, 9, 15|edition=1995 paperback}}</ref> The [[Mozarab]] community had its own Christian bishop. The ''[[taifa]]'' was centered on the [[Tagus]] and bordered [[Sierra de Guadarrama]], [[Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha|Guadalajara]], [[Medinaceli]], the Taifa of Valencia and the [[Montes de Toledo|Mountains of Toledo]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Reilly|first1=Bernard F.|title=Contest of Christian and Muslim Spain 1031–1157|date=1992|publisher=Blackwell|pages=6–7|edition=1995 paperback}}</ref>

The taifa, however, fell into political disarray, owing to the economic draining caused by the ''[[parias]]'' (tributes) imposed by the [[Kingdom of León]] as well as territorial mutilations, and so a revolt erupted in 1079, which was followed by the [[Aftasid dynasty|Aftasid]] ruler of [[Badajoz]] taking control of the city.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://raco.cat/index.php/ImagoTemporis/article/view/292993/381434/|journal=Imago Temporis: Medium Aevum|year=2013|title=En los orígenes del cruzadismo peninsular: el reinado de Alfonso VI (1065-1109)|first=Carlos de|last=Ayala|pages=499–537 |doi=10.21001/imagotemporis.v0i0.292993|location=Lleida|publisher=[[University of Lleida|Universitat de Lleida]]|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref>

On 25 May 1085, [[Siege of Toledo (1085)|Alfonso VI of León took Toledo]] and established direct personal control over the city from which he had been exacting tribute. Around that time, the city's demographics featured a heterogeneous composition, with Mozarabs, Muslims, and Jews, to which incoming Christians from northern Iberia and Frankish elements were added. Initially, therefore, different ''[[fuero]]s'' were simultaneously in force for each community.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/25677/1/Historia_Medieval_17_14.pdf|page=433|title=La (re)conquista cristiana de Toledo: un estudio sobre los nuevos patrones de ordenamiento del territorio y sus habitantes|first=María de la Paz|last=Estevez|doi=10.14198/medieval.2011.17.14|issue=17|year=2011|journal=Anales de la Universidad de Alicante. Historia Medieval|issn=0212-2480|publisher=[[University of Alicante|Universidad de Alicante]]}}</ref> After the Christian conquest, the city's Mozarab community grew by immigration from the Muslim south.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Reilly|first1=Bernard F.|title=Contest of Christian and Muslim Spain 1031–1157|date=1992|publisher=Blackwell|page=20|edition=1995 paperback}}</ref>

Toledo preserved its status as a cultural centre. A tag-team [[Toledo School of Translators|translation centre]] was established in which books in Arabic or Hebrew would be translated into Castilian by Muslim and Jewish scholars, and from Castilian into Latin by Castilian scholars, thus letting long-lost knowledge spread through Christian Europe again. Under the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toledo]], multiple persecutions (633, 653, 693) and stake burnings of Jews (638) occurred; the [[Kingdom of Toledo (Crown of Castile)|Kingdom of Toledo]] followed up on this tradition with forced conversions and mass murder (1368, 1391, 1449, 1486–1490) and rioting and bloodbath against the Jews of Toledo (1212).<ref name=STR-JewishPersecution>{{cite web|last1=Grosser|first1=P.E. and E.G. Halperin|title=Jewish Persecution – History of AntiSemitism – Lesser Known Highlights of Jewish International Relations in the Common Era|url=http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/HistoryJewishPersecution/|website=simpletoremember.com|publisher=SimpleToRemember.com – Judaism Online|access-date=6 February 2015}}</ref><ref name=GrosserHalperin>{{cite book|last1=Grosser|first1=Paul E.|last2=Halperin|first2=Edwin G.|last3=foreword by St. John|first3=Robert|last4=preface by Littell|first4=Franklin H.|title=Anti-Semitism : the causes and effectos of a prejudice|date=1979|publisher=Citadel Press|location=Secaucus, N.J.|isbn=978-0806507033|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w1wIAAAAIAAJ&q=Anti-Semitism:+Causes+%26+Effects+of+a+Prejudice+629|access-date=6 February 2015}}</ref>

A major popular revolt erupted in 1449, with elements of tax mutiny, anti-Jewish and anti-[[converso]] sentiment, and appeals to the civic community, eventually expanding from an urban revolt to anti-seigneurial riots in countryside settlements outside the city.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/132824/1/Historia-Medieval_24_06.pdf|journal=Anales de la Universidad de Alicante. Historia Medieval|issue=24|year=2023|pages=117–150|doi=10.14198/medieval.23139|title=La violencia de la comunidad. Movilizaciones colectivas, luchas antiseñoriales y control del territorio en la sublevación de Toledo de 1449|first=Óscar|last=López Gómez|location=San Vicente del Raspeig|publisher=[[University of Alicante|Universidad de Alicante]]}}</ref>

===Modern era===
[[File:Braun Toledo UBHD.jpg|thumb|upright=2.3|center|Toledo as depicted in the ''[[Civitates orbis terrarum]]'' (1572)]]
During the persecution of the Jews in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, members of the local Jewish community produced texts on their long history in Toledo.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}
<!--[[File:El Greco - View and Plan of Toledo - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|200x200px|''[[View and Plan of Toledo]]'' by city resident [[El Greco]] c. 1608]]-->
After the crushing of the [[Revolt of the Comuneros]], [[Charles I of Spain|Charles V]]'s court was installed in Toledo, with the monarch choosing the city as his residence at least 15 times from 1525 on.<ref name=vaquero /> Charles granted the city a coat of arms.<ref name=vaquero /> From 1528 to 1561 the population increased from 31,930 to 56,270.<ref name=vaquero>{{Cite web|year=2013|publisher=Ateneo de Toledo|url=http://www.ateneodetoledo.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Felipe-II-y-Toledo.pdf|first=Ángel|last=Santos Vaquero|title=¿Por qué Felipe II trasladó la Corte de Toledo a Madrid?}}</ref> In 1561, during the first years of his son [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]]'s reign, the royal court was moved to [[Madrid]].

The archbishops of Toledo remained powerful brokers in the political and religious affairs of Spain for the rest of the ''Ancien Régime'',<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://helvia.uco.es/bitstream/handle/10396/2211/ELEM8282120367A.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|title=Historiografía de la Iglesia de Toledo en los siglos XVI a XIX|first=José Antonio|last=García Luján|page=367|journal=En la España medieval|issn=0214-3038|volume=2|year=1982}}</ref> also owning large amounts of seigneurial land across most of the southern half of the [[Meseta Central|Inner Plateau]] and some nearby territories.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://webs.ucm.es/BUCM/tesis//19972000/H/0/H0054001.pdf|title=La población del arzobispado de Toledo en los Tiempos Modernos|first=José|last=Camacho Cabello|year=1996|pages=13–14}}</ref>

[[File:Women at the Siege of the Alcázar in Toledo - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright|Republican militia women besieging the Alcázar, controlled by the Nationalist faction]]
The mass arrival of deported unruly [[Moriscos]] from [[Kingdom of Granada (Crown of Castile)|Granada]] ('moriscos nuevos') in Toledo and its lands (6,000 arrived to the city only, at least temporarily){{Sfn|Gómez Vozmediano|1999|pp=77–78}} in the wake of the [[Rebellion of the Alpujarras (1568–71)|Alpujarras rebellion]] posed a formidable logistic challenge, and the uneasy preexisting system of social relations between the ''moros viejos'' ('old Moors') and the [[Old Christian]]s was disrupted.{{Sfn|Gómez Vozmediano|1999|pp=95–96}} By and large, Granadan new Moriscos were subject to xenophobic abuse and became stigmatised as bloodthirsty and sacrilegious.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Delincuencia y conflictividad morisca en tierras toledanas (ss. XV-XVII)|first=Miguel Fernando|last=Gómez Vozmediano|journal=Anales Toledanos|issn=0538-1983|issue=37|year=1999<!--|pages=67–106-->|url=https://realacademiatoledo.es/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/05.-Delincuencia-y-conflictividad-morisca-en-tierras-toledanas-ss.-Xv-XVII-por-Miguel-Fernando-G%C3%B3mez-Vozmediano.pdf|pages=95–96}}</ref>

[[File:1858-06-30, El Museo Universal, Inauguración del ferro-carril de Toledo.jpg|thumb|left|Opening of the railway in Toledo in June 1858]]

The city excelled in [[silk]] manufacturing during the early modern period. The silk industry reached a peak in the 16th century, entering a protracted decline in the later years of that century and ultimately disappearing by the turn of the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Incidentes en el mundo sedero de Toledo. Siglo XVIII|url=http://www.tiemposmodernos.org/tm3/index.php/tm/article/view/2076/725|first=Ángel|last=Santos Vaquero|year=2017|journal=Tiempos Modernos|volume=8|issue=35|pages=151–168}}</ref>
<!--[[File:Panorama of Toledo from the Virgen del Valle by Juan Laurent.jpg|Panorama of Toledo from the Virgen del Valle by Juan Laurent, c. 1872, [https://www.nga.gov/research/library/imagecollections/features/solemnity-of-shadows.html Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC]|right|frameless]]-->

The [[Peninsular War]] affected the city in a very negative way.{{sfn|Cerro Malagón|1995|p=22}} Over the 19th century, Toledo underwent a progressive change from a convent city to a bureaucratic city.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://descargasarchivo.toledo.es/high.raw?id=0000008091&name=00000001.original.pdf&attachment=La+calle+y+el+agua+en+el+Toledo+del+siglo+XIX.+Propuestas+y+realidades+urbanas+%2F+Rafael+del+Cerro+Malag%C3%B3n.-..pdf|page=12|title=La calle y el agua el el Toledo del siglo XIX. Propuestas y realidades urbanas|publisher=Instituto Provincial de Investigaciones y Estudios Toledanos. [[Provincial Deputation of Toledo|Diputación Provincial de Toledo]]|year=1995|first=Rafael del|last=Cerro Malagón|isbn=84-87103-52-9}}</ref> The city being quite impervious to external influence at the time, the [[bourgeoisie]] exerted a limited influence.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ciudadespatrimonio.org/publicaciones/evolucion-urbana/toledo.pdf|title=La evolución urbana de Toledo|page=12|first=J. Ignacio|last=Álvarez Ahedo|year=2017}}</ref>

Following the exclusion of Toledo from the railway to the Portuguese border in the 1850s, the construction of a rail connection from Castillejo to Toledo promoted by the [[José de Salamanca, 1st Count of los Llanos|Marquis of Salamanca]] was approved in June 1856.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.es/espana/castilla-la-mancha/toledo/abci-ferrocarril-y-primera-estacion-toledana-1858-1919-201904092101_noticia.html|website=[[ABC (Spain)|ABC]]|title=El ferrocarril y la primera estación toledana (1858-1919)|date=12 April 2019|first=Rafael del|last=Cerro Malagón}}</ref> The line was opened on 12 June 1858.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.es/toledo/20140318/abcp-estacion-tren-toledo-llega-20140318.html|website=[[ABC (Spain)|ABC]]|title=La estación de tren de Toledo llega a su centenario|date=18 March 2014|first=M|last=Cebrián}}</ref> Tourism fostered by the arrival of rail contributed to the development of the [[hospitality industry]] in the late 19th century.{{sfn|Cerro Malagón|1995|p=28}} By the turn of the 20th century, Toledo's population stood at about 23,000.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Storm|page=352|first=Eric|url=https://hispania.revistas.csic.es/index.php/hispania/article/view/400/401|location=Madrid|publisher=[[Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas]]|journal=[[Hispania. Revista Española de Historia]]|year=2013|volume=73|issue=244|issn=0018-2141|doi=10.3989/hispania.2013.010|title=Patrimonio local, turismo e identidad nacional en una ciudad de provincias: Toledo a principios del siglo XX|doi-access=free|hdl=1887/26207|hdl-access=free}}</ref> The neighborhood of [[Santa Bárbara (Toledo)|Santa Bárbara]] came into existence after the arrival of rail.{{sfn|Álvarez Ahedo|2017|pp=16–17}}

Following the [[Spanish coup of July 1936|July 1936 coup d'etat in Spain]], the acting military commander in Toledo, [[José Moscardó]], refused to provide weapons to Madrid and hid instead in the [[Alcázar of Toledo|Alcázar]] with a garrison of about 1,000 rebels, food, ammunition and some hostages.{{Sfn|Reig Tapia|1998|pp=120–121}} After 21 July, they became subject to [[Siege of the Alcázar|an unsuccessful siege by forces loyal to the Republic]] during the early stages of the [[Spanish Civil War]].{{Sfn|Reig Tapia|1998|p=112}} Leading rebel general (and soon-to-be "''caudillo''") [[Francisco Franco]] and his [[Army of Africa (Spain)|Army of Africa]] took a detour from their advance towards Madrid (which gave the Republicans time to build up the defenses in Madrid and receive early foreign support) and lifted the siege of the Alcázar in late September 1936.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gorostiza Langa|year=2013|volume=17|issue=457|journal=Scripta Nova|publisher=[[University of Barcelona|Universitat de Barcelona]]|location=Barcelona|issn=1138-9788|first1=Santiago|last2=Saurí Pujol|first2=David|url=http://www.ub.edu/geocrit/sn/sn-457.htm|title=Salvaguardar un recurso precioso: la gestión del agua en Madrid durante la guerra civil española (1936-1939)}}</ref> The two months of resistance of the garrisoned rebel military would become a core symbol of the mythology built around the [[Francoist regime]] and its ideology.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Reig Tapia|first=Alberto|title=El asedio del Alcázar: mito y símbolo político del franquismo|journal=[[Revista de Estudios Políticos]]|issn=0048-7694|url=https://recyt.fecyt.es/index.php/RevEsPol/article/download/46754/28238
|issue=101|year=1998|page=110}}</ref>
[[File:Himmoscaralcaz1940.jpg|left|thumb|[[Heinrich Himmler]] and General [[José Moscardó]] visiting the ruins of the Alcázar]]
In October 1940, [[Heinrich Himmler]], leading Nazi and Chief of German Police, [[Visit of Heinrich Himmler to Spain in 1940|visited Spain]] on the invitation extended by Director General of Security [[José Finat y Escrivá de Romaní]]. The main purpose of the visit was to inspect the Spanish security forces, discuss Spanish-German police cooperation, and prepare for the planned [[meeting at Hendaye]] between Franco and Hitler. During his trip, Himmler visited the ruins of the Alcázar. 

By 1950, the population was around 40,243.{{sfn|Álvarez Ahedo|2017|p=18}} Urban planning vis-à-vis the development of the neighborhoods of Palomarejos and [[Santa María de Benquerencia|Polígono]] ensued in the second half of the 20th century.{{sfn|Álvarez Ahedo|2017|p=18}}

[[File:Toledo Spain by Nedi Lufcic.jpg|thumb|Spanish rooftop view by Nedi Lufcic]]

In the 1980s, in the context of the creation of the [[autonomous communities]] in Spain, Toledo became the ''de facto'' capital of the autonomous community of [[Castilla–La Mancha]], hosting the seat of the [[Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha]] (the regional legislature) and the presidency of the [[Regional Government of Castile-La Mancha|regional government]] (the executive).

Toledo continues to be a major tourist destination, attracting visitors from around the world who come to see historic landmarks, such as the Toledo Cathedral, the Alcázar, and the many synagogues and mosques that reflect its diverse cultural past.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Toledo: Spain's Historic, Spiritual, and Artistic Capital |url=https://classroom.ricksteves.com/videos/toledo-spain-s-historic-spiritual-and-artistic-capital |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=classroom.ricksteves.com |language=en}}</ref>

Toledo hosts numerous cultural events and festivals, such as Semana Santa (Holy Week) processions and the Corpus Christi festival, which draw large crowds and celebrate [[Castilian Spanish]] religious and cultural traditions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Toledo {{!}} History, Culture & Architecture {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Toledo-Spain |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>