The mosque of Tornerías, dated between the ninth and tenth centuries after recent excavations, is located in the old suburb of Los Francos, in the commercial heart of Toledo. It is documented for the first time in 1190 and the last reference to it as a mosque dates from 1498. In 1505, already converted into an inn, it was donated by the magistrate Pedro de Castilla to the Hospital de la Misericordia.
With an almost square floor plan, its peculiarity lies in its arrangement on two levels due to the unevenness of the terrain. The ground floor preserves four stone horseshoe arches, vestiges of a late antique building with a basilica structure, with three naves and an apse. The upper floor, dedicated to worship, preserves remains of the mihrab and the qibla wall. Its interior space is organized into nine compartments with brick vaults and a ribbed central one. The horseshoe arches on columns with smooth shafts and solid capitals stand out.
The mihrab, oriented 12° to the southwest, has a decorative scallop, the first documented in Toledo and one of the few preserved in the Iberian Peninsula. The entrance to the mosque was from the Plaza del Solarejo through a courtyard or sahn. Its northwest façade preserves three restored horseshoe arches, while the other, towards Tornerías Street, maintains three more on its first floor.
