Church of Santo Tomé, Toledo

Church of Santo Tomé, Toledo tickets: which one to buy

Almost everyone who buys a ticket here is buying it for one painting, and the church has organised itself accordingly: the entrance for visitors is at the side, leading into the chapel that holds El Greco's Burial of the Count of Orgaz, rather than into the church as a whole. The ticket is cheap. Toledo sells a combined bracelet covering seven or eight monuments, including this one, which pays for itself if you visit four, and it is sold at each participating site.

Guided walks of the old town include the church, the synagogues a few streets downhill and the cathedral; the El Greco museum nearby holds more of his work and is state-run with a separate charge. Queues form here in the middle of the day in summer and the chapel is small, so early morning or the last hour is better. Photography is not allowed. The combined bracelet is not sold online and must be bought at one of the participating churches.

Visiting Church of Santo Tomé, Toledo: what to see

The church was founded after Alfonso VI took Toledo in 1085, on the site of an eleventh-century mosque, and like several churches in the city it simply took over the building. In the early fourteenth century, when it had fallen into ruin, the lord of Orgaz paid for a complete rebuilding and the old minaret became a bell tower in the Mudejar manner, with brickwork and blind arches that give it away as the finest tower of its kind in the city. The interior is three naves under barrel vaults with a polygonal apse.

In 1586 El Greco was commissioned to paint the burial of the benefactor, a legend in which two saints descended to lay him in the tomb. The result divides into two zones, an earthly row of Toledan gentlemen in black with white ruffs, painted from life, and above them a heaven of elongated figures and cold silver light. It has never left the building. A boy in the foreground of the painting, pointing at the scene, is generally taken to be the artist's son.

Church of Santo Tomé, Toledo opening hours and the best time to go

Toledo is a day trip from Madrid for most visitors, which means the town is crowded from eleven until four and quiet either side; staying a night is the single best decision you can make here. The church opens through the day with a short break and closes earlier in winter. Summer heat on the hill is serious, the streets are steep and there is little shade.

Corpus Christi in late spring is the town's great festival, with awnings strung across the streets and a procession of the cathedral monstrance. Holy Week is also substantial. The viewpoint across the gorge, reached by road or a long walk, gives the panorama El Greco painted and is best at sunset. Allow twenty-five minutes for the chapel, and do not expect to see the rest of the church. Escalators on the northern side of the hill carry visitors up from the car parks and save a steep walk.