Santo Tomé

Santo Tomé Review

Not to be confused with the marzipan shop of the same name, the real Santo Tomé is a chapel topped with a Mudejar tower, and built specially to house El Greco's most famous painting, The Burial of Count Orgaz. The painting portrays the benefactor of the church being buried with the posthumous assistance of St. Augustine and St. Stephen, who have appeared at the funeral to thank the count for his donations to religious institutions named after the two saints. Though the count's burial took place in the 14th century, El Greco painted the onlookers in contemporary 16th-century costumes and included people he knew; the boy in the foreground is one of El Greco's sons, and the sixth figure on the left is said to be the artist himself. Santo Tomé is Toledo's most-visited church besides the Cathedral so to avoid crowds in summer, plan to visit as soon as the building opens.