Rather than a Jewish quarter, according to the latest contributions by the local researcher Felipe Aira Pardo, in Monforte de Lemos we should talk about areas of Jewish influence as the medieval town of Cabe did not have an area solely inhabited by Jews, but rather streets and squares where Jewish and Christian families both resided. Even so, the old population inside the walls where the majority of Jews lived in the Middle Ages constitutes per se a space full of mystery where references to a small community abound whose memory has remained indelible thanks to documents, legends and architectonic elements such as the trabuleiros, which form part of the same commercial essence of this place, the capital of the district of Lemos and Ribeira Sacra.

circa 1104 - 1492
Jews settle in Monforte

The Jewish community was never confined and lived mixed in with the general population. The clearest references we have mention their residing on Zapaterías, Falagueira and Pescaderías streets as well as in España square and neighbouring streets

Monforte was one of the Galician settlements with the largest Jewish populations. As elsewhere, the Jews of Monforte were not obliged to live in a certain district and their presence extended throughout the city. Despite this, they had their communal building situated in the area of Falagueira street, A Rúa Vella (old street), A Zapatería (Cobblers´ street) (today known as Travesía de la Cárcel Vieja – Old Prison crossing), AçougueSquare (Pescadería Square) or Rúa de los Herreros (Blacksmith street – now part of España square), were inhabited by Jewish families until the expulsion of 1492.

circa 1300
Homage Tower

At the Torre del Homenaje (Monumental Unit of St. Vicente del Pino) there are many headstone signs. The one repeated most is the star of five tips or the Seal of Solomon

The majestic Homage tower, the main element of the medieval castle crowned by the St. Vincent mountain for over seven hundred years, is one of the symbols most identified with the people of Monforte and the monte fuerte (strong mountain) which lends it name to the city. From the top of this magnificent bastion from the 13th to the 14th centuries you can see the true dimensions of Monforte and its environment, but also establish an interesting starting point in the world of the converted Jews, seeking to resolve the enigma of the meaning of the stars of Solomon (the five tips representing the five books of the Pentateuch, a symbol also known for centuries in Galicia as the Goblin cross) which are located amongst the headstone signs and stonemason marks of their ashlar.

These stonemason marks are located in the oldest part of the Homage Tower from the 14th century. On the east face, we can see headstone signs and stonemasons´ marks. These marks were the assurance of quality of the work and they identified the engraver or school of engravers who have worked on the ashlar. The most common is the star of five tips or the Seal of Solomon.

circa 1510
The Palacio de los Condes de Lemos is built

The Palace of the Counts of Lemos

The Counts of Lemos were one of the most important noble families in Spain. Particularly relevant was the figure of the 7th Count, Don Pedro Fernández de Castro, who eventually became the Vice-rey of Naples and who is recalled as a patron of Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Quevedo and Góngora.

Alongside the Homage Tower, the Count´s Palace of the lords (later the hereditary, perpetual counts) of Lemos, integrated with the monastery of St. Vincent into the Tourist hotel facilities, sets the tone for a town traditionally subject to top-down governance.

To replace the former medieval palace, the 3rd countess of Lemos, doña Beatriz de Castro, erected a new construction in the 16th century which suffered a devastating fire in the late 18th century. The old count´s palace is still protected by the remains of the Monforte fortified complex and its façade, supported by Angels, maintains the magnificent family coat-of-arms.

circa 1510
The church of San Vicente is built

Although the current construction was started in the 16th century, its origins date back to the 10th century

The Benedictine monastery, erected in the 16th century on a previous monastery from the 10th century, constitutes a formidable architectonic display in which the church of St. Vincent of the Pine stands out. This impressive monastic church has a Renaissance gateway, whilst the interior is set in transition Gothic endowed with intricately ribbed vaults. A Baroque organ, silent for some decades now, can be found in a lateral of the chancel. On the main altar there is an interesting allegorical painting portraying the torture of St. Vincent.

A large part of the monastic building currently houses the Monforte de Lemos Tourist Hotel.

circa 1520
Funeral headstone of the Gaibor

At St. Anthony´s convent - now disappeared – near the pantheon of the counts of Lemos, there stands the chapel of the Gaibor

The death of Jorge de Gaibor is related with a popular convert story known as the case of the Christ of the Lashes, perfectly documented by the Santiago Inquisition in 1580. The testimony of one of its servants combined with the fact that he saw his son Juan with a crucifix and some lashes, served as the basis for the accusation that the recent convert was spending his nights whipping an image of Christ on the Cross. Convened by the Holy Court, based in Valladolid at that time, during the journey he felt very sick and had to return quickly to his house in Monforte where he died in a matter of days.

At the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Ourense there is a valuable headstone from Monforte which corresponds to the chapel that the Gaibor founded at the start of the 16th century at the Franciscan convent of St. Anthony of Padua where the Counts of Lemos had their Family pantheon and which indicates that underneath lie Juan de Gaibor and Jorge de Gaibor, residents and councillors of this town.

Aqui iacen Juan de Gaibor y su ijo Jorge de Gaibor fundador desta ca[pilla. Fue]ron vecinos y regidores desta villa.

A piece was missing from the inscription which brought about the erroneous belief, which has now been clarified, that said piece proved the foundation of a house in Monforte de Lemos by the Gaibor lineage.

1580
Death of Juan de Gaibor

The death of Jorge de Gaibor is related with a popular convert story known as the case of the Christ of the Lashes, perfectly documented by the Santiago Inquisition in 1580. The testimony of one of its servants combined with the fact that he saw his son Juan with a crucifix and some lashes, served as the basis for the accusation that the recent convert was spending his nights whipping an image of Christ on the Cross. Convened by the Holy Court, based in Valladolid at that time, during the journey he felt very sick and had to return quickly to his house in Monforte where he died in a matter of days.

1580
El Cristo de los Azotes (Christ of the Lashes) and Cristo de la Colada (Christ of the Washing)

One of the best known cases of insults and contempt in the history of Monforte is El Cristo de los Azotes and Cristo de la Colada whose existence is documented until the Napoleonic invasion of the city. Friar Jacobo de Castro, a chronicler of the Franciscan Order, at the time of his visit to the Monforte convent of San Antonio in the 18th century, recorded that some curious pieces were kept there. He says:

Una de ellas estando azotándola unos judíos en su infame sinagoga dio voces llamando al padre guardián, quien [...] guiado de aquella lastimosa voz [...] se entró en la sinagoga y recobrando la imagen [...] tuvo tiempo para dar cuenta a un ministro del Tribunal, quien prendió y castigó to the Jews, y depositó la imagen en este convento (se refiere al de San Antonio) En cuanto a dos imágenes de Cristo muerto bien crucificado que en este convento se tienen con especial veneración de la estatura de una tercia [...] uno con el título de La Colada y este está en la Sacristía con las demás reliquias y el otro con el título de Azotes está en la celda guardianal con una estatua de San Antonio de estatura pequeña [...] Es tradition que una vil mujer la entró en una caldera de colada, que estaba hirviendo, deseando [...] borrar la hermosura de la imagen [...] Por más que sudó y afanó la proterva mujer en supultar en lo profundo de la caldera la imagen, ésta se subía a la superficie de la colada. No se ejecutó esta execrable maldad con tanta cautela que no se hiciese publica; y averiguada fue presa y castigada la mujer por el Santo Oficio [...] Sucede con esta santísima imagen una cosa bien portentosa y es que, siendo fácil abrir la caja en que está cerrada y colocada no es posible abrirse por más vueltas que se den a las llaves, si dentro de la sacristía se halla algún judío.

circa 1890
The Gaibor headstone is found in a Monforte house

At the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Ourense there is a valuable headstone from Monforte which corresponds to the chapel that the Gaibor founded at the start of the 16th century at the Franciscan convent of St. Anthony of Padua where the Counts of Lemos had their Family pantheon and which indicates that underneath lie Juan de Gaibor and Jorge de Gaibor, residents and councillors of this town.

Aqui iacen Juan de Gaibor y su ijo Jorge de Gaibor fundador desta ca[pilla. Fue]ron vecinos y regidores desta villa.

Glossary