Santa Cruz Museum, Toledo, Spain

The Museum of Santa Cruz was an important hospital which was converted into a museum in the 19th century.

The hospital was founded by Cardinal Mendoza at the end of the 15th century to centralize assistance to orphaned and abandoned children in the city. It has a remarkable Plateresque portal, work of Alonso de Covarrubias. The building has a Greek cross plant and four courtyards, two of which were completely completed. The first is of Covarrubias and gives access to the upper floor through a three-ladder staircase.

The museum has two floors. The cruiser covers the two floors and is covered with ribbed vaults. In the north arm was located the chapel. The museum has sections of Archeology, Fine Arts and Decorative Arts. The Fine Arts funds are distributed on the first and second floor of the building, and those of archeology, in the Noble Cloister and in an underground floor. The Decorative Arts have a sample of Toledan folk handicrafts, which is also located on the floor of the basement.

References:

Wikipedia

Museums in Spain

User Reviews

Jerry Zhang (18 months ago)
Great collection if you are into history or art

Nick Babyak (20 months ago)
Totally free heritage museum with a bit of everything: classical art, modern art, historical objects, tiles/pottery, all in a unique building

Brian Green (2 years ago)
I attempted to visit Museo De Santa Cruz yesterday accompanied by my service animal. Not only did the manager “Antonio” turn me away but he also slammed the ticket window in my face because I asked for his name and his supervisors name. When he slammed the window and refused I took a picture of him because he had a name tag on and I wanted to make sure I had his name. He then stormed out of the ticket office and attempted to knock my phone out of my hand. He became very physically threatening and began to curse me. I had all of my paperwork with me proving my dog is a fully licensed service animal but he completely refused to look at any of it. It’s completely unacceptable to deny me entry based on my disability and it’s even more unacceptable to verbally abuse and attempt to physically attack me. This man has to be stopped. If anyone knows a good discrimination attorney in Spain a referral would be greatly appreciated.

Laura Black (2 years ago)
Has a nice collection of Greco's and a collection organized by date.

Dmitry (2 years ago)
Excellent collection of painting, including several El Greco's. Ceramics section on the second floor is also quite noteworthy.

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The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.

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