The Jewish people, with their enormous economic, cultural and even demographic influence in the Crown of Aragon, have left a vast heritage that continues to this day. One of the most visible signs of their importance in the region are the Jewish quarters, the neighbourhoods where members of this community lived. In Aragon, some vestiges are still preserved that allow us to follow the trail of Judaism and get closer to the history of a persecuted people, which formed an indispensable part of the melting pot of cultures.
In this article, with the help of the historian Álvaro López, we take a look at some of the Jewish quarters in Aragon that are most interesting for tourists today, as they have vestiges that can be discovered.
Among the Jewish quarters of Aragon, those of Zaragoza, which was the most important in the Kingdom of Aragon, and those of Calatayud, Híjar, Tarazona, El Frago and Uncastillo stand out.
There are other important Aragonese Jewish quarters such as Teruel, Huesca, Ejea de los Caballeros and Albarracínwhere it is possible to visit their layout although, unfortunately, there are hardly any remains, as pointed out by the expert, a leading author on the Jewish people in Aragon.
Jewish Quarter of Zaragoza
As indicated in the Guide to the Jewish Quarter of Zaragoza, by López himself, in all probability the Jewish presence in Zaragoza began in the Roman Caesaraugusta of the Late Empire, where they did not have a space of their own, but lived scattered throughout the walled enclosure. The same would happen in the Spanish-Visigothic city, until their social status improved with Muslim Saraqusta, when they were assigned the south-eastern quadrant of the walled enclosure.
The Zaragoza conquered by the Christians in 1118 respected this space until the Third Council of the Lateran (1179), which forced them to live in neighborhoods separate from the Christians. Later, gates were added to the access points of the inner wall of the Jewish quarter to prevent attacks by Christians, especially at Easter. In the 15th century, many Christians converted, although the Jewish population continued to grow due to immigration.
“The most important and largest Jewish quarter was in Zaragoza, as it was the capital of the Kingdom. Between the 14th and 15th centuries it had up to 2,500 inhabitants and when they were expelled some 2,000 people left,” says the historian about the edict of expulsion decreed in April 1492.
The Jewish quarter was integrated into the city’s street plan and one of the vestiges is ”the urban layout of the Magdalena neighborhood,” says the expert on this area, which included other neighborhoods such as El Castillo (from San Vicente de Paul to Coso Bajo), San Lorenzo (from La Magdalena to Plaza de San Pedro Nolasco), Calle de los Torneros (Verónica and Pedro Joaquín Soler streets) and San Andrés (on the street of the same name).
The Jewish baths, a valuable vestige of Jewish Zaragoza
Neighborhoods also emerged in the Jewish quarter outside the city walls and here, in the Coso Bajo, the Jewish bathsstand out. They are located underground in a building on this street, which was acquired by the Zaragoza City Council in 2006. Although efforts are being made to make them accessible, at the moment they are not open to the general public. This facility was part of the royal patrimony, which charged for their use.
Jewish baths of Zaragoza. PHOTO: Zaragoza City Council.
The House of the Morlanes: a call not to forget our origins
The traces of this people can also be seen with the naked eye on a stroll through the center of the old Jewish quarter of Zaragoza. Specifically, in the palace house of the Morlanes, which, by the way, was built in the first half of the 16th century, shortly after the expulsion of the Jews in 1492.
It is about the decoration sculpted in stone of each of the ten windows of the building, with scenes that review the Old Testament and serve as a tribute to Jews in Christian Spain. The representations of this building, which was in front of the main synagogue, were, according to the guide, “a lesson so that the converted lineages of the 16th century would not forget their origins”.
Detail of one of the windows of the Palacio de los Morlanes, in Zaragoza. PHOTO: Cultural Heritage of Aragon.
Jewish quarter of Calatayud
The second most important was the Jewish quarter of Calatayud. It reached its peak in the 14th and 15th centuries, when it had up to 1,000 inhabitants. The population declined and around 600 Jews were expelled.
The Jewish quarter of Calatayud was located between the castles of La Peña, Torremocha and Doña Martina, in the area now known as the Consolación district, as indicated by Turismo de Aragón in its guide to the most important Jewish quarters in Aragón. When the Jews were expelled, the converts settled in other areas of the old town, such as La Jolea, La Higuera and Bañuelo streets.
The two doors of the main synagogue
Old synagogue of Calatayud. Photo: Juan José Ceamanos. PHOTO: Calatayud Tourism.
In Calatayud, not only the layout of the streets is maintained, but also the distribution of the facades and even of the houses, as López points out.
The most important vestige is the façade of the old main synagogue, from the mid-14th century, which today corresponds to the Hermitage of La Consolación. “In it you can still see the two doors typical of a medieval synagogue: on the right the men entered and on the left the women, who went up to a kind of choir, called the women’s gallery. There, together with the minors, they followed the prayer of the men in the prayer room”. Stones and ashlars are preserved from the old façade, which was much higher.
The visit is completed by the two castles that belonged to the Jewish quarter: the castle of Doña Martina and that of Torremocha, which were owned by the Jews and are still preserved.
Jewish quarter of Híjar
If we focus on the vestiges, the expert cites the Jewish quarter of Híjar, in the Lower Martín region of Teruel, as the third most important.
Híjar. PHOTO: Tourism of Aragon.
As indicated by the Town Hall of Híjar, the Jewish quarter is well preserved in a suburb that closes in on the square of San Antón, where the hermitage of the same name is located, which was once the synagogue.
This was confirmed by the archaeological excavations that were carried out, as the layout of the old synagogue appeared in the subsoil.
“Hebrew letters have appeared on the walls, because they used to decorate the walls with biblical phrases. Also, painted on the wall are the arms of the menorah, or seven-armed candelabrum,” he explains about this temple that can be visited. Also noteworthy is the wooden coffered ceiling, which is original to the 15th-century synagogue.
It also had an oven, butcher’s shop, baths, Talmudic school and cemetery. Of particular note is the Hebrew printing press of Alantansí, one of the most important in the Hispanic kingdoms at the end of the 15th century.
Jewish Quarter of Tarazona
As indicated in the guide to ‘Routes through the Jewish Quarters of Spain. Paths of Sepharad’ dedicated to Tarazona, in this town in Zaragoza we find the “old Jewish quarter”, which occupies the current streets of Los Aires, Judería, Rúa Alta, Rúa Baja and the Plaza de los Arcedianos. Typical of medieval town planning, its streets are winding and narrow.
Sign for Judería street in Tarazona. PHOTO: Tarazona Monumental
“Apart from its urban layout or the gate or arch at the entrance to the Jewish quarter, you can see the ‘Hanging Houses’. They can be seen at the bottom, outside the Jewish quarter, but they belonged to the houses of the Jews who built further out from the wall. It is something very typical and eye-catching; they gained space outwards with hanging rooms,” adds the expert.
Jewish quarter of El Frago
The Jewish quarter of El Frago also deserves a special mention. This town in the Cinco Villas region not only shows the mark left by the Jewish population in the layout of its streets, but also in the walls of the houses and in some of the tombstones in the cemetery. As stated by Turismo de Aragón, it is the most important Hebrew epigraphic site in Aragón.
As the historian explains, in the village you can see some tombstones written in Hebrew characters embedded in the walls of some houses. When the Jews left, they used these tombstones to build the facades of the houses, “reusing the material”.
El Frago. PHOTO: Comarca Cinco Villas.
Jewish quarter of Uncastillo
Uncastillo is home to one of the best-preserved Jewish quarters in the region, according to the Aragon Tourism website. After the expulsion of the Jews living in this town of the Cinco Villas in 1492, the Jewish quarter was renamed ‘Barrio Nuevo’.
Uncastillo. PHOTO: Zaragoza Tourism.
“In Uncastillo there is a small museum about the Jewish quarter, some vestige of a probable synagogue, it is not confirmed, and the most curious thing is that in some doors there are still the holes for the mezuzah,” he says. This is a parchment with the Shema prayer or Jewish creed, which is placed in a receptacle attached to the right jamb of the portico.
