CATHEDRAL

Like most of the city's buildings, it is built in pink stone. Begun in 1144, under the orders of the city's first bishop, Bernardo de Toledo, it is essentially Gothic in style. Beyond the main entrance is a huge marble choir adorned with an altar dedicated to a ^13th-century representation of the Virgin Mary. However, its main treasure is undoubtedly the tomb of Martin Vasquez de Arce, known as El Doncel ("the page"). On the other side of the building is an extraordinary portal: Plateresque on the lower part, Mudejar in the middle and Gothic on the upper part - an astonishing amalgam built in the ^16th century by an unknown architect. The sacristy features a Renaissance ceiling with three hundred and four heads sculpted by Covarrubias. Finally, in a chapel with a strange dome (look in the mirror!) is the painting L'Anunciación by El Greco. Many treasures are on display in the cloister, while numerous other masterpieces from neighboring churches and convents, including Zurbarán's Virgin and Child, are on show in the castle. In addition, the public can now admire another new treasure: 8^17th-century Flemish carpets recently restored over the course of a year by the Royal Tapestry Manufactory in Madrid. Measuring 4 m high and 6 m wide, these carpets of golden silk and wool, with natural pigments, depict scenes such as the birth of Romulus and Remus, or the abduction of the Sabines.