The Order of Toledo was an avant-garde association of young writers and artists studying in Madrid, Spain, who made frequent weekend trips to nearby Toledo. Members immersed themselves in the mystique of the city's labyrinthine streets and mosaic history to seek out individual and shared adventures. The Order was founded by Luis Buñuel in 1923 and continued accepting members until 1936. Some of its most successful members were Salvador Dalí, Federico García Lorca, and Rafael Alberti. Origins According to his memoirs, Buñuel first visited Toledo in 1921 and was immediately smitten with its “indescribable ambience.” He would often return to the city with friends from the Residencia de Estudiantes de la Calle Pinar in Madrid for weekend getaways. In 1923, after a tipsy night in the taverns of Toledo, he was inspired to formalize the impromptu visits: The primary purpose of the Order was to wander in search of personal adventures. Prospective members were initiated at the Cathedral's toll of 1 o’clock in the morning, at which point they were stranded in the darkness of Toledo. In his memoirs, Rafael Alberti recounts his initiation experience. He was brought to the Plaza of Santo Domingo el Real near a monastery. The other members appeared, one by one, covered in white sheets, “phantoms of another era, in the quiet unreality of the Toledan penumbra.” Then Alberti was abandoned until dawn, left to traverse Toledo in the hours when the city “seems to stretch out, becoming even more complicated in its phantasmagoric and silent labyrinth.” This idea of wandering, as if caught between consciousness and unconsciousness, was integral to the origins of the Order. Its members were enchanted and inspired by the city to find all that was intriguing and confusing and mesmerizing. Membership The following were members: Constable: Luis Buñuel Secretary: Pepín Bello Founding Knights: Pedro Garfias, Augusto Centeno, José Uzelay, Sánchez Ventura, Federico García Lorca, Francisco (Paco) García Lorca, Ernestina González Knights: Hernando y Lulu Viñes, Rafael Alberti, José Barradas, Gustavo Durán, Eduardo Ugarte, Jeanne Rucar, Monique Lacombe, Margarita Manso, María Luisa González, Ricardo Urgoiti, Antonio G. Solalinde, Salvador Dalí, José M. Hinojosa, María Teresa León, René Crével, Pierre Unik Squires: Georges Sadoul, Roger Désormière, Colette Steinlen, Elie Lotar, Aliette Legendre, Madeleine Chantal, Delia del Carril, Helene Tasnon, Carmina Castillo Manso, Nuñez, Mondolot, Norah Sadoul, Manolo A. Ortiz, Ana María Custodio Chief of the Invites of the Squires: José Moreno Villa