''Toledo, cruce de destinos'', or simply ''Toledo'', is a Spanish historical drama television series, set in 13th-century Toledo. It aired on Antena 3 in 2012.

Premise

The fiction follows the intrigues in the court of

Alfonso X the Wise Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germ ...

in late 13th-century Toledo as well as it attempts to depict the historical postulate about the so-called " ''Convivencia'' of the Three Cultures".

Cast

Juan Diego Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, also known as Juan Diego (; 1474–1548), was a Chichimec peasant and Marian visionary. He is said to have been granted apparitions of the Virgin Mary on four occasions in December 1531: three at the hill of Tepeyac a ...

as King Alfonso, the Wise. * Patricia Vico as Violante, Alfonso's queen consort. *

Maxi Iglesias Maximiliano Teodoro Iglesias Acevedo (born 6 February 1991), better known as Maxi Iglesias, is a Spanish actor, model, and television presenter. Career Iglesias was born on 6 February, 1991, in Madrid, where he studied at the Colegio Cardenal S ...

as Martín Pérez de Ayala, Rodrigo Pérez de Ayala's son. * as Rodrigo Pérez de Ayala. *

Fernando Cayo Fernando Cayo (born 22 April 1968) is a Spanish actor. Biography Cayo was born on 22 April 1968 in Valladolid. He moved to Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitant ...

as the Count of Miranda. *

Rubén Ochandiano Rubén Ochandiano (born 3 October 1980) is a Spanish actor and director. He has appeared in more than thirty films since 1997. He has worked with some of the most interesting film directors over the world: Pedro Almodovar, Alejandro González Iñ ...

as Archbishop Oliva. * as

Fernando Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...

. * as

Sancho The name Sancho is an Iberian name of Basque origin (Santxo, Santzo, Santso, Antzo, Sans). Sancho stems from the Latin name Sanctius.Eichler, Ernst; Hilty, Gerold; Löffler, Heinrich; Steger, Hugo; Zgusta, Ladislav: ''Namenforschung/Name Studies/ ...

, first born son of King Alfonso. *

Álex Angulo Alejandro Angulo León (12 April 1953, in Erandio, Biscay – 20 July 2014, in Fuenmayor, La Rioja), better known as Álex Angulo was a Spanish actor who performed in over sixty films during his career spanning more than 30 years. Angulo di ...

as Abraham, a Jewish merchant. *

Paula Rego Paula or PAULA may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Paula, in video game ''EarthBound'' * Paula, in ''The Larry Sanders Show'' * Paula Campbell (''EastEnders''), in 2003 Film and television * ''Paula'' (1915 film), a si ...

as Fátima, Taliq. * as Diana, queen's first lady. * Beatriz Vallhonrat as Blanca, Rodrigo Pérez de Ayala's daughter. * as Cristóbal, Martín's friend. * Daniel Holguín as Abu Bark, a Muslim warrior. *

Mario Vedoya is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...

as Taliq, leader of the Muslim community in Toledo. *

Petra Martínez Petra Martínez Pérez (born 24 June 1944) is a Spanish actress who has a long career on stage, film and television. She was in the cast of the 1967 stage play ''Twelfth Night'', by William Shakespeare. In 1968, she married her eventual longtim ...

as Elvira, a servant working for Rodrigo Pérez de Ayala, Cristóbal's mother. * Elena Rivera as Beatriz de Suma Carrera. * as Humberto Miranda, only son of the Count of Miranda.

Production and release

''Toledo, cruce de destinos'' was created by Emilio Díez. The screenplay was authored by Díez together with Alberto Úcar. Álex Conrado composed the musical score. Most of the series was shot in Pedraza, the

Castle of Guadamur The Castle of Guadamur is castle in Guadamur Guadamur is a municipality located in the province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2008 census ( INE), the municipality has a population of 1819 inhabitants. On June 4, 2007 sig ...

and the Antena 3 sets in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, whereas the only real shots in the city of Toledo consisted of the outdoor shots of the

Puente de Alcántara The Puente de Alcántara is a Roman arch bridge in Toledo, Spain, spanning the River Tagus. The word Alcántara comes from Arabic ''القنطرة'' (al-qanţarah), which means "arch". Located at the foot of the Castillo de San Servando, it w ...

. Produced by Boomerang TV for Antena 3, the first episode premiered on 10 January 2012. The broadcasting run ended on 3 April 2012. While the average viewer figures for the season (13.5% audience share) ended up being slightly above the channel's average, the series was not renovated for a second season.

Critical reception

The historical depiction of Toledo was bashed by historians, while former mayor of Toledo wrote in a column he felt "embarrassed" after watching a few episodes. In addition, critics also pointed out the "gratuitous" switch of the characters of

and

, when Fernando was the heir-apparent instead of the younger ''infante'', as well as the condition of

bastard Bastard may refer to: Parentage * Illegitimate child, a child born to unmarried parents ** Bastard (law of England and Wales), illegitimacy in English law People People with the name * Bastard (surname), including a list of people with that na ...

of Sancho, and other historical anachronisms (loose hair instead of hair up for most women, the horizontal companionship between an heir apparent and his servants, errors in the representation of medieval women, Jews not abiding to

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

, soldiers "in uniform" or anachronical swords, to name a few).

References

{{authority control 2010s Spanish drama television series Television shows filmed in Spain Television series set in the 13th century 2012 Spanish television series debuts 2012 Spanish television series endings Spanish-language television shows Antena 3 (Spanish TV channel) network series Television series by Boomerang TV Toledo, Spain in fiction