Girona Jewish Community

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Carrer de la Força alley in the former Jewish quarter of Girona

The Jewish community in Girona , the capital of the Spanish province of Girona in Catalonia , was the second largest Jewish community in northeastern Spain after Barcelona in the Middle Ages .

history

The Jews , more than 700 people in their heyday, lived in their own quarter in the old town of Girona, called Call , from 1160 onwards . In the 15th century it became imperative for them to live in the ghetto , which was located on Carrer de la Força and the adjacent streets and which extended to the square in front of the Cathedral of Santa Maria. In the Jewish quarter there were three synagogues , a ritual bath ( mikveh ), a Talmud Torah school for children from poor families, a hospital, a bakery, a slaughterhouse for slaughtering and a hostel for Jewish visitors from other places.

In the course of the Reconquista , the Jews were persecuted from 1391. After that, some of them adopted the Catholic faith or moved away. In 1492 all Jews were expelled from the Kingdom of Spain .

graveyard

The cemetery of the Jewish community was in the north of the city, on the Montjuich hill ("Judenberg"). The cemetery was destroyed after the expulsion of the Jews in 1492, although the representatives of the Jewish community had agreed with the nobleman Joan de Sarriera to protect the cemetery. However, this allowed the tombstones to be cleared and reused for other purposes.

Personalities

Commemoration

In the former Jewish ghetto of Girona, at house number 8 on Carrer de la Força, there has been a museum on Jewish history in Girona and Catalonia since 2000. The Institut d'Estudis Nahmànides , which maintains a specialist library and conducts research on Girona's Jewish history, is also located in the same building .

literature

  • Martine Bertholet: Ruta Jueva - Route Juive - Jewish Route . Association Sources, Perpignan 2002, ISBN 2-9515937-2-4 , pp. 175-188.

Web links