Practically in the centre of Toledo's Jewish quarter is the small, simple and unremarkable at first glance church of San Tomé. Like many others, this church was rebuilt from a mosque after King Alfonso VII liberated Toledo from the Arab invaders. Built in the Mudejar style, the church of San Tomé is notable for its original brick bell tower, which retains the appearance of a Muslim minaret.
The church has three naves in plan, intersected by a transept. The beautiful church altars are made in Baroque and Plateresco styles. The main attraction of this church, which is visited by tourists and art lovers from all over the world, is the magnificent painting "The Burial of the Count of Orgaz" in one of the chapels, painted by the hand of the outstanding artist El Greco. This masterpiece of world painting is one of the artist's major works.
The canvas was painted in 1576 specifically for the church of São Tomé and was never taken outside of it. The subject of the painting was the legend of the burial of Don Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo, Count of Orgaz, by St Stephen and St Augustine. The painting is also notable for the fact that the painter depicted his contemporaries in most of its characters. In the image of the knight on the left side of the canvas is the artist himself, and in the little page painted next to him we recognise his ten-year-old son Jorge Manuel, from whose pocket a handkerchief with the boy's date of birth written on it peeks out. On the other side of the painting, the famous architect of the time, Alonso Covarrubias, is shown in profile.
