Travelling from bustling Madrid across the stark plains of Castile-La Mancha, we entered a land steeped in culture and legend, where the adventures of the chivalrous Don Quixote unfolded. It was 2016, and there were festivities in every village to mark 400 years since the death of its author, Miguel de Cervantes.
The plains gave way to a road that wound like a ribbon up around the hills.
Perched on a rocky ridge across a river, the city of Toledo came into view. Counted among the top 10 ancient walled cities of the world, it is protected on three sides by a bend in the Tagus River, like a natural moat, and an imposing wall on the fourth side.Before us was a patchwork of red-tiled roofs, bell towers and spires - a tapestry of medieval churches, mosques, synagogues and other buildings threaded by narrow cobbled streets.
The massive Alcázar (Arabic for fortress) dominates the skyline. This is where the Romans built their stronghold when they occupied Toledo in 192 BC.
Bloody battles have been fought through several civilisations and the Alcázar has been rebuilt many times - most recently in 1940 after Franco's forces took possession in the famous Siege of the Alcázar during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).
Today it's a military museum and library.Our guide led us through a warren of buildings, narrow streets and dark alleys where sunlight seldom ventures. One can even do a night-time ghost tour here.
It was easy to imagine a time when the inhabitants were convinced the world ended on the outskirts of Toledo - a red lamp glowing in the window of a house of ill repute, sinister lurking figures melting into the shadows, children listening to stories of lunatics and evil spirits and gas lamps flickering as the wind eerily howled round the corners.
At times their only light was from candles stolen from the cathedral.
I'm sure I missed many of the facts related by our guide as I got caught up in the atmosphere of this mystical city. A revelation awaited us around every corner.
Buildings that mix Christian and Arab architectural elements are pure works of art, with geometric patterns combining stone, bricks and tiles. The plazas are like breathing spaces in the maze.Dominating the main plaza is the magnificent cathedral, crowned by a 100m spire. This Gothic beauty with its elaborate Baroque altar of marble, jasper and bronze took 200 years to complete. Even the City Hall is no ordinary concrete structure but a 16th-century marvel with stone arches and symmetrical spires.
One of Toledo's famous citizens was the Renaissance artist El Greco, who was nicknamed "The Greek" when he moved here in 1577.
Rejecting conventional perceptions of art, he said, "I paint because the spirits whisper madly in my head."His most famous painting, The Burial of Count Orgaz, created a visionary experience as our guide interpreted it in detail.
At 4.8m by 3.6m, this masterpiece covers a wall in the church of Santo Tomé. El Greco and Cervantes both lived in the Spanish Golden Age, when art and literature flourished.
A hallmark of Toledo is the craft of silversmiths, passed down through generations. Damascene ware is the art of decorating dark, oxidized steel with threads of gold and silver. We watched the painstaking concentration of artisans as they created beautiful, delicate designs of birds and flowers.
While the ladies oohed and aahed over the jewellery, the men moved on to the swords. In times of war, it was not only the expertise of the swordsman but also the perfection of his weapon that won the fight.
The great military strategist Hannibal (247-181 BC), Roman legions, 11th-century El Cid, kings, warriors and noblemen across Europe brandished swords crafted in Toledo.There were licensed versions of Viking, Highlander, William Wallace's, Sir Lancelot's, Alexander the Great's and other famous swords of history and film available for purchase - certainly not an easy souvenir to pack for home.
Leaving the old city, we crossed the Tagus River on the 13th-century Puenta de San Martin, a bridge with many a story to tell.
My visit had only been a glimpse of fascinating Toledo. I feared that if I lingered longer, the magic might be lost as I learnt even more gruesome truths about its turbulent past.
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