Tarazona

Alta Street at the height of Mata square

The name Old Jewish Quarter was coined in the 15th century in contrast to the New. During the Late Middle Ages, from the end of the wars between Castile and Aragón (1357-1369) until the time of the expulsion, the Jewish community of Tarazona occupied an urban area near the Zuda fortress, the prime symbol of Moslem power and then of Christian power. In the last three decades of the 14th century the district was extended between the exterior of the city barbacan, the Selcos irrigation ditch and the Zuda. This area can be specified more precisely thanks to two documents: the purchase agreement carried out in 1376 by Fernando Pérez Calvillo pertaining to the several properties owned by Jordán Pérez de Urries, including twenty one censos on properties in the Jewish quarter and the donation made by said clergyman and his brother Bishop Pedro, in favour of the city for a slightly greater figure. Both texts record the limits of the Jewish quarter between the city barbacan, the Selcos irrigation ditch, the crag of the Zuda, the market and the gate of the city. This solace corresponds to the streets currently called Juderia, Alta street, Aires street, Baja street and Arcedianos square.

The enclosure of this Old Jewish quarter, closed off at the Selcos irrigation ditch, can be accessed by several gates. There is documentary evidence for those located at Nueva Square (the current España square) at the intersection of the Juderia and Aires streets with España square and the so-called Porticiella on the road between the Zuda and the Selcos irrigation ditch known as Baja street, on the lower stretch occupied until recently by a tower of the wall which enclosed the so-called Cubo mill. Under the Zuda, on Alta street, opposite the Tarazona Study Centre, there was a third gate.

The northern limit is marked out by the barbacan which is situated on Conde street at the rear of which there are a series of overhanging constructions called (Hanging Houses) and occupied by the lower nobility and lineages like the los López de Gurrea, Señores de Torrellas, los Fayos and Santa Cruz.

The southern boundary follows the course of the Selcos irrigation ditch on whose left bank was a brick wall or adobe wall coinciding with the rear of the alignment of houses on Baja street. It was accessed from here thanks to a ponticiello or bridge of boards as the irrigation ditch was not covered. The blinded arches of the building which has a façade both on Baja street as well as on Arcedianos square demonstrates that the street level was considerably lower than the current one.

Moses of Portella, along with his brother Ismael de Portella, was the typical model of a Jew at the Court with a striking, meteoric career. From being and officer or private advisor of the King, he became an administrator of the Crown´s income under Pedro III who commissioned him to collect, maintain and repair the fortifications with Castile and Navarre. Previously, during the reign of Jaime I the Conqueror, he held the post of baiulus or bailiff of Tarazona in 1273 and in early 1276 he took on the same responsibility for Sagunto, Onda, Peníscola, Morella, Segorbe, Villareal and Vall dʼUxò, later adding the cities of Malón, Santa Cruz, Borja, Luceni and Ejea de los Caballeros. In the last few years of the reign of Jaime I in the three-year period from 1279-1281, he would govern the merindads of Tarazona, Ejea de los Caballeros and Jaca as well as the bailiffs of Sariñena.

His brother Ismael de Portella also played a major role in Aragón. Until 1289, he was, by royal decree, the executor or administrator of the house of Prince Don Pedro, the son of Alfonso III. Jaime II entrusted diplomatic missions to him and granted him the privilege of not paying taxes. He was a rab or Main Rabbi for all the Jewish quarters of Aragón.

Upon the death of Pedro III in 1285, Moses fell from grace. When the Courts demanded his dismissal in 1286, his influence extended throughout Aragón, a position of power in the hands of a Jew which had not gone unnoticed. After his death in suspicious circumstances in 1293, his fortune was confiscated to contribute to the conquest of Menorca, though a subsequent agreement was reached if his family left Tarazona and moved to Borja. The decline of the Portella was concurrent with that of his followers, struck down by the black death of 1348 (with further outbreaks in 1362 and 1389) and a series of poor harvests, partly offset by the contributions made by Jews who had emigrated from France and the attacks suffered in Navarre.

Panoramic view of Tarazona with the cathedral in the 15th century in the centre

The Cathedral, dedicated to Nuestra Señora de la Huerta, brings together a range of different styles from the early Gothic of the 13th century to its latest manifestations in the 15th century, to connect with the Renaissance of the 16th century, fitting in with the architectonic tradition of the Aragonese Mudejar. It was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1931.

The oldest part is the head from the second quarter of the 13th century, designed in line with the Gothic models of Northern France.

The vault of the main chapel is decorated with a cycle of grisaille carried out by Alonso González in 1562-1565, following the example of the Sistine chapel. The main retable in Roman style was put up between 1608-1614.

The dome, implemented by the architect Juan Lucas Botero in 1543-1545, has interior decoration comprising plasterwork by Alonso González in 1546-1549.

The main access to the temple is situated at the Northern arm of the transept. It is presided over by a masonry gateway by the sculptor Bernal del Fuego (1578-1585), protected by a vast Baroque portico built between 1733 and 1735 according to a design by the Carmelite architect Friar José Alberto Pina. The cloister is erected on the southern flank of the church. Put up between 1500 and 1529, it is one of the masterpieces of Aragonese Mudejar architecture at its final stage. The most prominent element is the complex system of plasterwork lining the large windows, largely reworked in the past century.

It is worth noting that its archives hold an interesting collection of parchments found in the covers of codices and manuscripts, mainly biblical, without forgetting a miscellaneous section (a page of the Haggadah, verses of the Moed Katan in the Talmud of Babylon, an annotated Midrash Rabbah and a treatise on medicine in Arab with Hebrew characters).

Façade of the old synagogue

Near the end of the Rúa, almost at the crossing with Aires street, there was an old building which scholars believe to be connected with the main synagogue, set in a block of the structure which is very different from the current one and perhaps also connected with the current Arcedianos square.

Despite being the most important property in the Jewish quarter, the synagoguedid not visibly stand out from its surroundings as this could have been construed as a challenge to the Christian churches which wished their supremacy to be quite clear at all times. As regards its size, two historic references are conserved about the two most numerous assemblies of which we have documentary evidence: That held on August 17th 1391 attended by forty people and that which took place in September 1491 by sixty seven.

The synagogue consisted of a single nave oriented towards Jerusalem, a sloping wooden roof which was accessed via a courtyard or azara, one of whose arches is still blinded. The loggia of windows is still conserved, now blinded, where light came in. It had a collection plate for the needy as well as the women´s synagogue with its own sisterhood, segregated by way of a gallery on the upper storey. The construction, which bordered the rabbi´s house, was subject to various conditioning works in the 15th century. Nothing is known about the Mikveh.

The first evidence of its existence dates back to 1367 when the material desolation of Tarazona, involved in frontiers clashes with Castile, attained alarming levels. The situation was so bad that Pedro IV consulted the court which met in Saragossa in 1367 about the possibility of its demolition in view of the threat raised by the advance of the Castilian troops. The King changed his mind and on September 20th 1368 the first permission is received to rebuild the main synagogue and five days later the small synagogue.On September 8th 1371 Bayel Constantin, a Jewish doctor, obtained the episcopal blessing to open up an oratory or midrashwhich could be attended by those its owner allowed just like the old synagogues of the city.

on September 20th 1368 the first permission is received to rebuild the main synagogue and five days later the small synagogue.

On September 8th 1371 Bayel Constantin, a Jewish doctor, obtained the episcopal blessing to open up an oratory or midrashwhich could be attended by those its owner allowed just like the old synagogues of the city.

In the last three decades of the 14th century the district was extended between the exterior of the city barbacan, the Selcos irrigation ditch and the Zuda. This area can be specified more precisely thanks to two documents: the purchase agreement carried out in 1376 by Fernando Pérez Calvillo pertaining to the several properties owned by Jordán Pérez de Urries, including twenty one censos on properties in the Jewish quarter and the donation made by said clergyman and his brother Bishop Pedro, in favour of the city for a slightly greater figure.

In 1414 there was much talk in the city about the conversion of Ezmel Azamel after the celebration of the famous Disputation of Tortosa who took on the name of Esperandeu de Santa Fe as a New Christian.

The Cuesta de los Arcedianos at night

The steps of cuesta de los Arcedianos connect the Old Jewish quarter to the New Jewish quarter, created in the early decades of the 15th century. It is a narrow, steep alley which crosses a considerable height to go down to river level and its route continues to hold a certain air of mystery. Once you have descended, on the left there is the passageway connecting with Marrodán street and on the right the Nuestra Señora or Nueva Juderia square around which a new Jewish district was developed. At the same square a narrow passageway has the rights of way of an old street in the district, passing underneath a contemporary building and slightly further on, between numbers 20 and 22 of Paseo de los Fueros de Aragón, an iron gate cuts off passage to an old medieval alley, now out of use; the remains of what was the last residence of a collective based in Tarazona for centuries.

The first documentary mention of the New Jewish quarter dates back to 1440 and at its origin there are demographic and public hygiene factors, as certain unhygienic activities such as the tanneries, abattoirs etc. could only be carried out at a minimum distance of fifty cubits from the residential district.Whilst the butchers were located in the parish of Santa Cruz, the problem did not exist which was caused in 1417 when the King requires the Jews to have their own macellum. It was located in the outskirts of the channel of Selcos stream and constructed near Nuestra Señora square.

Hence, at a second stage, the urban occupation was extended via Cuesta de los Arcedianos to join around Santa María or Nuestra Señora square, protected in the part nearest the River Queiles by a barbacan. Its effective segregation was achieved by means of a gate situated on the last stretch of Marrodán street by means of a gate and arch dual-locking system known as the Arch of Santa Ana which had previously only been used as a sewer and we would be right in thinking that it coincided with the limestone of the oven. A second gate was opened at the western end of the square in the vicinity of the flour mill of Cubo.

The square became a place for celebrations (coronation, birth, betrothals of the monarchs) and manifestations of pain (the death of Juan II). As the wife of Pedro Lamata declares before the inquisitors against the mother of Ximeno Cabrillas when:

When they removed the Torah she retorted:

Whilst the butchers were located in the parish of Santa Cruz, the problem did not exist which was caused in 1417 when the King requires the Jews to have their own macellum. It was located in the outskirts of the channel of Selcos stream and constructed near Nuestra Señora square.

The first documentary mention of the New Jewish quarter dates back to 1440 and at its origin there are demographic and public hygiene factors, as certain unhygienic activities such as the tanneries, abattoirs etc. could only be carried out at a minimum distance of fifty cubits from the residential district.

Baja street where the butcher´s was located on the Selcos irrigation ditch

According to a document from July 1492, the Jewish butcher´s was situated opposite the brotherhood of the aljama whose cameras adjoin Nueva Juderia square (the current Nuestra Señora square). It location was also near some houses and an orchard belonging to the chaplaincy of García Ruiz, situated on the Selcos irrigation ditch. In this way, the water course crossed the premises of the butcher´s which, along with the slaughterhouses, included a yard to keep the animals.

In 1503 a dispute arose about the ownership of some houses attributed at the time of the expulsion to the chaplaincy of Canon García Ruiz and which the bailiff Pedro de Talavera improperly sold at a later date.

If we assume that this property, bordering the entrance to the synagogue, is the same as that mentioned in the text from 1492, the Jewish butcher´s would be where today Rua Baja street is located, on the stretch on Selcos near Arcedianos square.

At the time of the expulsion the cemetery was attributed along with the orchard and nearby plots – properties valued at 1,025 sueldos jaqueses (currency)– to the bailiff Pedro Talavera. It would appear that the latter decided to divide the space into parcels as in 1494 a purchase agreement pertaining to a courtyard to be used as a plot states its location in Montiver, in that part of the city in the graveyard where Jews are usually buried.

all the Santafé of Tarazona were convicted by the Inquisition (with the exception of those nearest the canon of the cathedral who was the grandchild of Moser Esperandeu, called Ezequiel Azaimel before 1414).

Detail of the façade of Santafé palace

In Barrio Verde street in the New Jewish quarter there stands the large house remodelled upon the order of Moser Santafe by the MudejarMohamed Darocano in 1502. The Santafé were the first convert family of great merchants to achieve noble status. Currently called the Santafé palace, it still conserves part of the heraldic coat-of-arms on its façade.

This is a building put up only two years after almost all the Santafé of Tarazona were convicted by the Inquisition (with the exception of those nearest the canon of the cathedral who was the grandchild of Moser Esperandeu, called Ezequiel Azaimel before 1414). As recently as fifty years people were living there who still bore this surname.