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Situated on a cliff at the edge of the fortified city of Toro, the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria overlooks the narrow, jagged streets of the city as well as the winding Duero River and the fertile plans beyond. Its construction began in the middle of the twelfth century and lasted for about a century. (...)

Situated on a cliff at the edge of the fortified city of Toro, the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria overlooks the narrow, jagged streets of the city as well as the winding Duero River and the fertile plans beyond. Its construction began in the middle of the twelfth century and lasted for about a century. Its most famous feature is the grand western portal, known as the Portada de la Majestad, completed in 1240.

The portal celebrates the glory of the Virgin and includes more than 125 individual figures in its iconographic repertoire. The lower portion of the portal follows a mature Romanesque design. Above, the composition reflects the influence of Gothic prototypes from Notre Dame in Paris, imported perhaps via sculptural workshops active at Burgos during this period. In the fifteenth century a chapel was built around the portal, effectively enclosing it and protecting the rich polychromy from exposure to the elements. Following the collapse of its roof in the nineteenth century, the chapel and the portal were closed off. In 1941 the portal was reopened, which accelerated its deterioration for almost 50 years.