colegiata de santa maria

I've been to more than my fair share of beautiful churches, but this ranks up there with some of the best. The west door, you have to pay to get to it, is absolutely stunning, well worth the 2 or so euros. My long suffering wife decided not to pay (she's not as keen on Romanesque churches) and really regretted it when she saw the photos. The outside is pretty stunning too.

Magnificent structure in a great location, but as soon as we tried to take photos of the magnificent organ and altar, two ladies rushed out and stopped us. No real reason as we were not using flash, and many other churches in Spain have less rules.

Medieval art at its finest. Well worth a visit. We got the bus from Zamora to Toro (bus station is 5 minutes from the clock tower, which you can see from the bus on your way into the town). Take a walk behind the church to see the river and the valley below.Toro has excellent food - 'pinchos', which are basically individual tapas and local paella with chorizo instead of seafood. The local wine is named after the town 'Toro' - very dark, fruity and strong (normally 13.5% or more). This is a part of Spain where prices are surprisingly low and food and drink are very affordable. Only 90mins Madrid-Zamora on the train too.

It's worth the journey to Toro just to see the Colegiata - the Virgin of the Fly and the great painted mediaeval portal particularly. There's a complicate system whereby you pay to go in (at least as a tourist), then a bit extra if you want to take photographs (you get a sticker to stick on your coat - it immediately drops off), then - I think - there's another bit extra to pay to go into the sacristy to see the Virgin of the Fly and other particularly precious works of art. Visitors - especially foreigners - often don't understand how it works, the ladies in charge don't speak anything but Spanish, and the atmosphere can get slightly fraught. Don't worry. They're kindly at heart and there're just doing their best in a very difficult situation. Keep calm. It all works out fine in the end. The Virgin of the Fly is astonishing. I didn't realise what I was looking at at first ! And as for the great portal, gluttons, the proud, lechers, bankers and the like should pay special attention to the top right hand part, where their destinies are vividly illustrated - the boiling cauldron, the jaws of Leviathan, the Gates of Hell… absolutely terrifying. There are laminated handouts available in various languages to make sure you know exactly what's going on.

This is simply beautiful. Some family friends produced and appeared in a video shown inside which is what lead me to visit but it took my breath away inside. No flash photos allowed inside and no signs to say this so be warned, you may be told off like I was!

This church probably has the best preserved 12th century portico of any church in Europe. It was an external doorway, but a chapel was added a century later, so that it is very well preserved. You can see the vibrant colors on the statues, including kings playing their identifiable musical instruments. In the central part of the church are some very beautiful statues, including St Jame the Pilgrim (Santiago) and a very rare statue of the pregnant Virgin Mary.

The first day that we visited Toro we could only enjoy the beautiful exterior of the Colegiata and the panoramic view behind the church. The second day we were very lucky, not only that the church was open. The biggest luck was the parish clerk who told us that he would close the church any minute but that he would like to guide us through the sacristie first, if we were interested. Het pointed out the highlights of the art treasures and he spoke fluent English. Another unforgettable experience was the southern doorway to the church, the Pórtico de la Majestad. Built in the late 13th century it still impresses the visitors with the originally coloured (!) sculptures which show the life of the Virgin Mary, Christ and the Final Judgement. We were so lucky that we met the charming parish clerk! Later we found out that the Colegiata has opening hours: March-September Tuesday-Sunday 10.30-14.00 and 17.30-19.30, October-February Tuesday-Sunday 10.00-14.00 and 16.30-18.30, EUR 1,- entrance for cloister and sacristy. Don't miss it!

Es un monumento extraordinario situado al lado de un mirador hacia la veda del rio Duero. Su pórtico de la Majestad, que fue restaurado, muestra un colorido espectacular, teniendo en cuenta la época en la que se construyó. También, se pueden ver algunas obras de arte fantásticas como, el cuadro de la mosca. Dentro de la iglesia hay una estatua de una virgen embarazada, que no es muy habitual.

Un audiovisual ilstra en detalle sobre todo el portico y sus figuras.La pantalla quizas un tanto pequeña.

Me gustó mucho. Está muy bien conservada. Nosotros nos apuntamos a una visita guiada en la Oficina de Turismo y vimos más edificios. Es gratuita y os lo recomiendo porque os enterais de muchas cosas. Lo mejor que es gratuita. No la recomiendo para niños pequeños porque se les hace un poco pesada. Lo negativo es que para hacer fotos en los Altares hay que echar un euro, y las puedes hacer von flash porque se ilumina, si las haces sin flash no pagas pero no salen bien.

Estar delante de un pórtico con la policromía intacta del SXII es estremecedor . Visita absolutamente recomendable y no olvidar unos prismáticos para poder observar de cerca los detalles.

Merece la pena. Y también pagar los dos euros por ver el pórtico interior con un video ilustrativo muy bueno.Trato amable de las personas que trabajan allí.La única pega, el frío.

Sin duda todo el que pare en Toro tiene que ver esta maravilla del romanico muy bien conservada y situada en un lugar excepcional.

Es Extraordinaria. No soy demasiado de monumentos pero es TOTALMENTE RECOMENDABLE y no os perdáis un video explicativo que, sorprendentemente, no es ningún rollo, está muy bien hecho y te explica detalladamente el pórtico que si no pagas los 3 euros no lo ves. La verdad es que salí impresionado. No me lo esperaba.

Imprescindible la visita si tienes un poco de interés por el arte, una de las pocas puertas románicas-góticas que aún mantiene el policromado original. Excepcional. Hay que pagar dos euros para poder verla, pero se pagan con agrado. Emiten un vídeo de unos 12 minutos en los que explican a grandes rasgos la simbología de esta obra de arte.Por un euro más te dejan hacer fotos.