03Places

The river bend

Toledo on the Tagus

Toledo is the capital of its province and stands mostly on the right, northern bank of the Tagus, inside a bend that wraps it like an island. The city sits at 529 metres. The municipality covers 232.1 square kilometres and had 86,526 residents in January 2024. Newer growth has moved away from the old centre toward Santa María de Benquerencia on the opposite bank. The river itself is the longest on the peninsula: 1,007 kilometres from the eastern mountains to its mouth at Lisbon. The old city has been on the World Heritage List since 1986. The fortress at the top is a square of about 60 metres on each side, with four towers each about 60 metres high. Most of the present building was reconstructed between 1939 and 1957. The stone bridge in the photograph crosses to the hill where the walls are stacked. Walking here is up and down, and the old centre has no room for a car. This list gives the city no airport. The high-speed line from Atocha station in Madrid to Toledo opened in 2005, at 250 kilometres an hour, so a day from the capital is enough for the walls, the fortress and the bend, with a return before evening if the plan is tight. Stay the night if you want the stone in the last light.

0 residents in January 2024.

Population

0.1 square kilometres.

Area

0 kilometres, the longest river on the peninsula.

The Tagus