Why go
Before entering, compare the main façade facing the town hall with the north Portal of the Clock. The portals’ sculpture, the lone bell tower, and the chapel on the opposite side make the unfinished symmetry and changing uses legible. The square and surrounding streets make these differences easy to compare in a short circuit.
The full story
The main façade faces a square shared with Toledo’s town hall and Archbishop’s Palace. Its three portals include the central Portal of Forgiveness, the Portal of the Last Judgment, and the Portal of Hell. The Portal of Forgiveness carries Gothic figures, including an image of Saint Ildefonso receiving a chasuble from the Virgin; the theme recurs inside. To the left rises the cathedral’s only completed bell tower, with a square lower stage and octagonal upper part. The dome to the right belongs to the Mozarabic chapel, built where a second tower had been envisaged. On the north side, the older Portal of the Clock presents scenes from the life of Christ in horizontal bands. Other entrances bear names linked to former street uses or processions. The Level Portal, built later in a Neoclassical style, takes its name from its step-free alignment with the ground. Walk at least two sides of the cathedral to see how its exterior responds to the streets around it.