Do you want to amortize the transport pass but you don’t feel like going (again) to Cercedilla? Do you have a car and you are looking for a different plan an hour away from Madrid that includes the possibility of going to a concert or an exhibition? You probably won’t be surprised when we tell you about Toledo, but maybe you will be surprised when we tell you about its Círculo de Arte (not Círculo de Bellas Artes).
If we were in the 14th century we would refer to it as the Church of San Vicente or as “that church with the altarpiece of El Greco”. But today, centuries later, it is a cultural association whose history continues to place it as one of the oldest preserved Mudejar style temples in Toledo. One that has an extensive program of concerts and nightlife.
From festivals to cinema sessions
(Almost) everything you can imagine about culture probably has a date at the Círculo de Arte. Besides having cafeteria service and being one of the best known places for nightlife in the city, it also has events of all kinds: concerts of many different genres, book presentations, art exhibitions, film sessions ….
A long list of cultural events in which the festivals stand out above all, from the Toledo Youth Short Film Contest to the CIBRA Festival.
Concert program for the coming months
November’s program set the bar very high with performances by artists who are becoming increasingly popular, such as Carlos Ares, León Benavente or El Canijo de Jerez. But that of the coming months has nothing to envy with performances such as Malmö 040 on December 12 or Coti on December 13.
And for those who prefer classical music, a string quartet will play at the Círculo de Arte as part of the Candlelight concerts on December 14 and January 11.
From Alfonso VI to Marwan
The history of what was born as the Church of San Vicente is the living history of the saying “renovate or die”. It was ordered to be built by the then King Alfonso VI after the reconquest of Toledo in 1085. A construction that followed the austere Mudejar style and in the thirteenth century reformed the apse that remains today and is known as “Cubillo de San Vicente”. The centuries passed, and with them the reforms according to the style of the moment.
Gothic, Renaissance (designed by Nicolás de Vergara), Baroque… a golden age that began to fade little by little after its deconsecration in 1842. It was a municipal warehouse, a classroom of the University of Toledo, a temporary museum of religious art… until it fell into neglect.
It was in the 20th century when a group of Toledo citizens came together to ensure that the building did not fall into ruin, and that the contemporary cultural life of the city had its own enclave: the Círculo de Arte, which today hosts exhibitions and concerts from Marwan to Siloé.
One of its chapels housed an altarpiece by El Greco.
The building of the old Church of San Vicente is a thousand years old, so its curious facts are practically endless. But one of the most striking was that the altarpiece of one of its most important chapels, the Oballe Chapel, was the work of El Greco. A private commission made up of four works that, after the church was deconsecrated, are found in different places:
- San Ildefonso and San Pedro: currently located in the Escorial monastery.
- The Visitation: conserved in the Dumbarton Oaks, in Washington D.C.
- The Immaculate Conception: property of the parish of San Nicolas de Bari in Toledo, and since 1965 deposited in the Museum of Santa Cruz.
Where is the Art Circle and other nearby places of interest?
The Círculo de Arte is located at Plaza San Vicente, 2. Being in the historic center of the city, the easiest way to get there is on foot, but you can also get there by bus, getting off at the Zocodover or Calle de la Unión stops.
If you feel like visiting a little more of the city, just a few meters away you will find the Catedral Primada, the Alcázar of Toledo or the El Greco Museum.