The Difficulties of Toledo Architectural History

There's one big problem that anyone writing about Toledo's architectural heritage has to face. A lot of things have been said and written over the years that are way off base. Nowhere is this problem worse than in the highly subjective matter of inspiration. Such and such a building was inspired by this and that. Back in the early 20th century, Toledoans seem to have been of the opinion that an architect couldn't possibly have an original idea. Everything had to be copied from something else. This gives rise to a lot of very confusing speculation that can have the architectural historian saying "what the ...." rather often. One example is St. Stephen's. When it was built, someone got the idea that it was inspired by the Abbey of Pannonhalma. This is still being quoted. You'll find a picture of St. Stephen's below, that's Pannonhalma, above. What the....