Santa María la Blanca church in Toledo, Spain

It is generally considered that cultural tolerance and freedom of religion is something that is typical of our age, and which has never really existed in any other. Especially not in the Middle Ages. This is of course a naive way of thinking.
An excellent example of far reaching inter-cultural co-operation and religious tolerance in the very middle of the 'dark ages' can be seen in the church of Santa María la Blanca, in Toledo, Spain. It was erected in the late 12th century as a synagogue under Christian King Alphonse VIII, in a Moorish style, by Muslim builders. It is considered by some to be the oldest synagogue in Europe still standing.
In the 12th century Toledo was the capital of Castile, then the strongest Christian kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula. Just south of Toledo lay the border with the Almohad Caliphate, which was a Berber-Muslim dynasty, controlled from modern day Morocco. Because the Almohad Caliphate was defeated decisively under the command of Alphonse VIII, he is remembered nowadays as one of the crucial figures in the Reconquista – the re-taking of the Iberian Peninsula of the Muslims by Christians. Yet Alphonse was able to speak and write Arabic. Muslims were allowed to live in his kingdom and practice their faith. The same applied to Jews. In fact many Arabs moved to Castile because they felt more at home in Alphonse's Castile than in the ultra-conservative Almohad Caliphate.
This can be seen in Santa María la Blanca, which is a showcase of different Moorish building types.The simple brick exterior, and the plain white interior walls are typical of Almohad architecture. The five rows of columns crowned with horseshoe arches are a clear reference to the Moorish 'golden age' architecture of the great Mosque of Córdoba. The capitals are of a varation on the Corinthian type that was also invented by the builders of the Córdovan mosque. The decorations in plaster, above the columns, are stylistically related to the style of the Nasrids of Granada. And yet the columns are actually pillars, which is an Almohad feature... and all this on a floor plan typical of a 12th century Toledan church.
(Text and photo: Edgar Foley)