This is one of the last sword-making shops in Toledo, Spain.
The city has been known for the craft for over 2,500 years.
Conquerors and kings have used Toledo steel weapons
in battle throughout history.
Today, it's mostly an art form for tourists, film productions, and collectors.
But the pandemic has threatened the already fragile business.
We visited the last traditional forges to see how these bladesmiths are still standing.
José Ramón Moreno starts heating
a piece of steel in a furnace
to around 1,000 degrees Celsius.
Ancient Toledo blacksmiths spent centuries
developing the perfect recipe for the steel they use,
but José won't share it.
Narrator: Originally, they made blades
with a strip of pure iron
enveloped with regular steel to make it stronger.
Then they figured out a perfect formula
that allows them to make the swords with pure steel,
but just as strong.
This is what made their swords famous throughout history.
Narrator: José learned the craft from his father
when he was 16 years old,
but it's taken him a lifetime to make a sword
using just his eyes and ears.
Narrator: With the help of this machine,
José stretches and shapes the hot metal
to the right size and thickness.
It's one of the two mechanical parts of the whole process.
Then, he dunks the hot blade in a cask full of oil.
Quenching is a key step for blacksmiths
to control the steel's hardening process.
Narrator: Then José puts the steel back in the furnace,
this time at a much lower temperature,
around 200 degrees Celsius.
This technique is called tempering.
It reduces the brittleness of the steel
while still keeping it hard.
The blade is ready once the metal turns bluish.
Narrator: Before modern temperature gauges,
this color change was the only way
for a smith to know they had done it correctly.
Narrator: While it's still warm,
José hammers the blade by hand
against the anvil to straighten and balance it.
These strikes leave marks that set
an authentic handmade sword
apart from a machine-made one.
Then he cools it down again,
this time in water.
José polishes and refines the edges with a grinder,
the only other mechanical step.
But he doesn't sharpen it too much.
Most blades are meant more
for decoration than fighting nowadays.
Finally, he assembles the hilt and attaches it
to make a complete and balanced sword.
Narrator: Different styles of these weapons
have been popular throughout history.
Hannibal and the Carthaginian army
crossed the Alps to fight the Romans
with Toledo-forged falcata in 218 BC.
Legend has it, Charlemagne united most of Europe
under a sword that he got during his Iberian campaign.
And even fictional swordsmen the Three Musketeers
wielded rapiers developed by Toledo smiths.
But as firearms became the weapon of choice
for the world's armies,
fewer people needed quality swords for fighting.
In the 1980s, there were a few hundred bladesmiths
in the greater Toledo area,
but almost 40 years later,
the last forges are struggling to stay open.
Narrator: And the past year has been especially tough.
Tourists are the main clientele for the city's sword shops,
but the pandemic kept people away.
In summer 2020, we visited the last workshop
still in the heart of Toledo's historic city center.
Mariano Zamorano ran this sword factory that had been
in his family for five generations.
Narrator: Foreign competition was also a big concern.
Mariano only sold hand-forged swords,
which can cost up to 400 euros
depending on complexity.
Mass-produced ones that come mainly from China
can be found all over Toledo souvenir shops
for half the price.
But for those looking for an authentic Toledo sword,
there was no doubt about paying top dollar.
When you see the work that goes into it,
I think it's definitely a fair price.
Narrator: This demanding work
even cost Mariano two of his fingers as a young man.
Narrator: But at 69 years old,
the conditions in the workshop were wearing on him.
Narrator: So late in 2020, he decided to retire.
He sold the Zamorano sword factory
to one of his employees, Santi Encinas.
But in March 2021,
Santi had to close the workshop
and find a new location
to keep the soul of Toledo's traditional industry alight.