Santa María la Blanca is a temple built in the Jewish quarter of Toledo in 1180, as a synagogue that, having functioned as such for 211 years, was expropriated and transformed into a church as a result of the pogrom of 1391. In 1550 a reform attributed to the to Covarrubias to install a beatario, which was in operation at least until 1637. In 1791 the place was adapted to serve as a barracks. Restored from its ruined situation in 1851, it currently serves a tourist function.
This Mudejar building, created by Moorish stonemasons, is arranged in an east-west direction and has a basilica plan, with five narrow naves arranged in staggered heights and separated by pillars on which horseshoe arches rest.
Although there is some contrast between the sobriety of the exterior of the synagogue and its elaborate interior, the building presents no little austerity. In accordance with the Eastern tradition, it lives towards the interior.
Its architectural elements include smooth white walls made of brick, octagonal pillars with tiled plinths, geometric frieze and plant decoration on the pillar capitals. All these characteristics and the distribution of the spaces, with their naves formed by a succession of horseshoe arches supported by pillars, tend to recall the typical typology of a mosque.
The thirty-two pillars of this temple are made of brick covered with cement and lime. Decorated with pineapples and scrolls, its capitals denote the influence of Romanesque art. Above the horseshoe arches, abstract ornamentation prevails in horizontal friezes that include moldings with delicate motifs based on the interaction of lines and medallions. The geometric interlacings formed by the lines are of Almohad origin.
