<p>Around 1577, El Greco—an outspoken, flamboyant Greek painter in his mid-30s—journeyed to Spain to seek his fortune. In time his adopted land would claim him as one of its greatest artists, and the identities of El Greco (The Greek) and Toledo would become closely linked.</p><p>Suspended between heaven and earth, Toledo—Spain's spiritual heart—has changed little from the day the Greek painter El Greco arrived in the 1570s.</p><p>—From "Toledo—El Greco's Spain Lives On," June 1982, <em>National Geographic</em> magazine</p>

Toledo

Around 1577, El Greco—an outspoken, flamboyant Greek painter in his mid-30s—journeyed to Spain to seek his fortune. In time his adopted land would claim him as one of its greatest artists, and the identities of El Greco (The Greek) and Toledo would become closely linked.

Suspended between heaven and earth, Toledo—Spain's spiritual heart—has changed little from the day the Greek painter El Greco arrived in the 1570s.

—From "Toledo—El Greco's Spain Lives On," June 1982, National Geographic magazine

Photograph by James P. Blair

Toledo, Spain Photos

See Toledo photos and pictures of Spanish culture, history, and travel from National Geographic.

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