Del Sol Gate

Next to a second door, the one of Alarcones, was the one of the Sun a defensive tower that constituted the main access to the Muslim population. The aspect that today presents, as in most Toledo monuments, is the product of successive restorations that has suffered over the centuries. Its primitive construction dates from the X-XI centuries, conserving from this time the horseshoe arches. The oldest preserved documentary reference of the door dates back to 1216, citing among the documents of a judicial litigation.

During the development of the internal wars between Pedro I and Enrique de Trastámara the door had to undergo serious damages, that were corrected like other buildings destroyed by the prelate Pedro Tenorio. It is this reform that has provided the building with the aspect it maintains, with its rounded exterior tower, following the models of the Toledo Mudejar style.

The group was also temporarily known as Puerta de la Herrería, because of the numerous forges that clustered around it. Without success it was tried in 1575, being corregidor Gutiérrez Tello, to substitute the name of the door for the one of Door of San Ildefonso, placing a slab of marble with the scene of the imposition of the chasuble to santo bishop.

Another tombstone, located on the minor arch, represents a scene discussed by scholars from long ago. Some say that it is a representation of two disciples of San Juan de la Cruz, to whom the door was formerly dedicated, holding the head of his teacher on a silver tray. Others, however, believe that they are two Toledo maidens forced by the infamous Toledo governor Fernando Gonzalo, to whom the monarch Fernando III granted the head of his cruel transgressor to compensate for damages.

Source: Jesús-José Cerdeño Vozmediano