TOWN HALL SQUARE

is an important meeting point in Toledo, known as the square of "the three powers" because it houses the Cathedral and the Archbishop's Palace (religious power), the Provincial Court (judicial power) and the City Hall (civil power). From the fourteenth century, it was progressively expanded to celebrate liturgical acts, proclamations and royal entrances. In 2014 a sculpture by Cristina Iglesias was installed in homage to the Tagus River, whose flow varies with that of the river itself and which, at dusk, reflects the Cathedral in its waters.

The City Council

Before its construction, the site housed a hospital whose premises were used for municipal meetings. Its construction began in 1575 and concluded in 1703, with initial designs by Vergara el Viejo and modifications by Juan de Herrera, who printed his Herrerian style on the façade. Other architects, such as Vergara el Mozo, Jorge Manuel Theotocopuli (son of El Greco) and Teodoro Ardemans, completed the work with the second floor, the balcony and the towers. To adapt the building to the unevenness of the square, two underground floors were built. Today, its interior houses a central courtyard and an imposing Baroque staircase.

Archbishop's Palace and Palace of Justice

The Archbishop's Palace, located between the City Hall and the Cathedral, was built in the 16th century by order of Cardinal Tavera and remodeled in the 18th century. Its façade designed by Alonso de Covarrubias and the passageway that connects it with the Cathedral, still used by the clergy, stand out.

The Palace of Justice is located on the left side of the Cathedral and occupies the site of the old houses of the Dean, confiscated in 1855. Its façade and a Gothic-Mudejar style window come from the disappeared Ayala Palace and were moved to this building in the twentieth century.