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Toledo
built 233 days ago
Toledo is Ohio’s fourth largest city, located in Lucas County in Northwestern Ohio along Lake Erie on the banks of the Maumee River. It borders the state of Michigan to the north and is approximately 75 miles east of the Indiana border. With a population of over 313,000, and over 600,000 in the entire Toledo metro area, the city has all the advantages and attributes of a large city, yet has retained a small Midwestern-town atmosphere. The city of Toledo was founded in 1833 by the consolidation of the villages of Port Lawrence and Vistula. During the 1840s, the development of the Miami and Erie Canal contributed to Toledo's growth. With its accommodating lake port, the city became an important gateway to the West, and today remains one of the most significant ports of the Great Lakes.
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Toledo is of pre-Roman origin; known in ancient times as Toletum, it fell to the Romans in 193 B.C. The city became an early archiepiscopal see; its archbishops are the primates of Spain. In the 6th cent. Toledo prospered as a capital of the Visigothic kingdom, and it was the scene of several important church councils. Its greatest prosperity began under Moorish rule (712–1085), first as the seat of an emir and after 1031 as the capital of an independent kingdom. Under the Moors and later under the kings of Castile, who made it their chief residence, Toledo was a center of the Moorish, Spanish, and Jewish cultures and ... a great center for translation (its School of Translators was revived in 1995). Toledo sword blades were famous for their strength, elasticity, and craftsmanship; the art was introduced by Moorish artisans, and it is still carried on. Other important products were silk and wool textiles.
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Toledo has a typical continental climate, cold in winter and hot in summer, although slightly tempered by the presence of the Tajo river flowing around its historic centre. The months of November and February generally bring the most rainfall, though not particularly heavy, and snow is unusual.
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Ceramics - Talavera de la Reina (outside of Toledo) has a centuries-old tradition of glazed ceramics. Toledo is filled with handpainted ceramics of varying degrees of quality (upscale shops and boutiques are pricier, but generally carry higher-quality pieces).
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NY Times Peruvian Leader's Party Fears Setback in Regional Voting: "Mr. Toledo's popularity had risen in a poll released last Sunday by Apoyo, a polling firm in Lima. His approval rating of about 23 percent was up from 11 percent earlier this year, but that was still among the lowest for a Latin American leader. The low ratings have grated on Mr. Toledo. He listed improvements for Peru under his watch, with economic growth for the year forecast at more than 3 percent, highest among Latin America's largest countries, a low inflation rate and steady reserves of $10 billion." Toledo like to be out on the stump. It's what got him into trouble in the first place.
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The population of Toledo expanded during the first three-quarters of the sixteenth century. According to the first census of 1528, some 30,000 people (5,898 households) lived in Toledo, and this figure doubled to approximately 62,000 people (12,412 households) by 1571. This appears to be the high point of the city's demographic expansion, as in 1597 only 54,665 people (10,953 households) were recorded. Baptismal records indicate a decreasing number of births in the first decade of the seventeenth century, when the city was struck by plague and then a subsistence crisis in 1605–1606. Population was ... lost through emigration, especially to Madrid. Finally, among the city's wealthy families, fewer marriages were celebrated, in part because the crown's chaotic monetary policies ruined many and in part because numerous individuals of both sexes preferred celibacy and a church career.
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Toledo