Santa Cruz is the primary tourist neighborhood of Seville, Spain, and the former Jewish quarter of the medieval city. Santa Cruz is bordered by the Jardines de Murillo, the Real Alcázar, Calle Mateas Gago, and Calle Santa Maria La Blanca/San José. The neighborhood is the location of many of Seville’s oldest churches and is home to the Cathedral of Seville, including the converted minaret of the old Moorish mosque Giralda.
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Fernando de Valdés Salas Statue at Oviedo University
The stern look on the face of Fernando de Valdés Salas in the statue representing him at the center of the cloister of Oviedo University, undoubtedly incarnates the pompous character of the founder of this institution, but it is also, if you want to look at it that way, a certain examination of conscience after his work as the grand inquisitor between 1547 and 1566 when he was the central figure, amongst other cases, in the famous proceedings against Bartolomé de Carranza, the author of a big Índice de libros prohibidos (List of Prohibited books), but also an unflagging driving force behind cultural and charitable ventures; perhaps today don Fernando would not have been surprised to know that the volumes kept at the University library include two magnificent editions of the Ferrara Bible from 1553, a Bible in Spanish translated word for word from the Hebrew truth by most excellent academics and seen and examined by the office of the Inquisition. Design in 1574 by Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón, the building, surrounded by the mandatory university quarry which established the higher jurisdiction of the chancellor, accommodated the faculties of Arts, Canons, Laws and Theology after its solemn inauguration in 1608 which its main promoter Valdés was unable to attend as he died a few years previously. The magnificent building which can be seen today is the culmination of profound restoration after the damage caused to the property during the October Revolution of 1934 and the subsequent Civil War.
Porlier Square
At the same Porlier square, the sculpture by Eduardo Úrculo El regreso de Williams Arrensberg (The return of Williams Arrensberg – 1993),a lifesize portrayal of a traveller with a hat and overcoat, resting on his suitcases, has become a true symbol of the city de Oviedo. On the northwestern side of the square an explanatory Jewish settlements´ plan situates in this square the main Jewish landmarks of Oviedo, at least since the period when the members of the aljama ceased to be free to elect their place of residence in the city to focus on a specific place as from the Ordinances of the Council of Oviedo of 1274. The space occupied by this square, plus that part of the block formed by the building on the northern side and that of the current Juan XXIII square, constitutes the essence of the Jewish quarter of Oviedo from the Castillo gate to the Socastiello Nueva gate and from the gate outwards, should they so wish. Those who drafted the Ordinances justify these limitations by the fact that the Jews»se esparzían a morar por la villa, por que venja danno ala villa, en muchas maneras que non queremos declarer», but they use this opportunity to establish a series of impediments to their activities. From this point onwards the Jews of Oviedo can no longer accept the pawning of stolen objects, grant loans to women without the autorisation of their husbands or carry out financial activities after nightfall.
Constitution Square
From Fontán, Fierro street, where the church of St. Isidore is located, leads to Constitución square, a broad space dominated by the colonnades of the town hall whose central arch coincides with the old access gate to the walled city. The Torre del Reloj (Clock Tower) is one of the references of this building endowed with good proportions, dated as being from the 17th century, serving as a time tunnel to leap, once again, from the Baroque to the Middle Ages, in an environment which draws us a little closer to that of the historic Jewish quarter of Oviedo.
Balesquida Chapel
Balesquida chapel, at the corner of the square with Eusebio González Abascal street, crowns the architectonic series of the Rúa with a Baroque building containing the image of the Our Lady of Hope and which constitutes a perpetual homage – as borne out by the scissors hanging from the corner balcony to the guild of tailors. the brotherhood of Balesquida was, in the 13th century, the beneficiary of the will of a lady from Oviedo, Velasquita Giráldez, and the feast day of this entity, Martes de Campo (Country Tuesday), is a local holiday in Oviedo.
Campoamor Theatre
The Campoamor Theater, founded in 1892, was built over a former Jewish cemetery, and only several plaques now stand demarcating the former — now unrecognizable — Jewish quarter. The Campoamor has attracted the finest musical artists including Rubinstein, Ravel, Bartok, Rostropovich, and Yehudi Menuhin. Or Mario del Monaco and Victoria de los Angeles performed for the reopening of the theatre in 1948, after it had been practically destroyed during the October Revolution of 1934.
The Campoamor Theatre hosts the second oldest opera season in Spain, after the Liceo de Barcelona, and stages, together with Madrid, the only zarzuela season in Spain. Each October, it is also the venue for the Princess of Asturias Awards ceremony, considered by many as the second most important in the world, after the Nobel Prize.
Tapestry of Creation in the Cathedral Museum
The Tapestry of Creation or Girona Tapestry is a Romanesque panel of needlework from the 11th century, housed in the Museum of the Cathedral of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. On one part of the tapestry are two individuals with the word iudei (Jews) identifying them: a splendid, early iconographic portrayal in the city which has become the symbol of the Jewish History Museum. The proximity of the Jewish quarter to the cathedral constituted a permanent source of conflicts between the Jews and Christians of Girona. Already since the late 13th century there have been numerous attacks on the call owing to Easter Week or at other times of extreme religious fervour. In 1436 the King had to prohibit the custom of the stoning of Jews by students and the clergy from the cathedral.
Sobreportes Gate
The impressive Sobreportes Gate, providing access to the medieval city and near the Jewish quarter, is situated alongside the Roman wall. It is here that the entry to the barri vell (old district), declared Historic-Artistic Heritage, commences, leaving behind on the right the Palace of Justice and opening up on the left as far as the large staircase of the cathedral.
Girona Museum of Art
Girona Art Museum is home to the most important collection in both the diocese and in Girona province as a whole and offers an itinerary through unique works of Catalan art.
Visitors to the Museum are offered a chronological presentation of pictorial and sculptural works from different periods and in successive styles (Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Realist, Art Nouveau and noucentista), as well as rooms devoted to ceramics, glassware and liturgical art.
The route through the permanent exhibition starts with a fragment of an early Christian tombstone from Empúries. The collection significantly includes the liturgical ensemble from Sant Pere de Rodes (ninth century), the Martyrology of Usuard (a fifteenth-century illuminated manuscript) and one of the most striking altarpiece ensembles of the fifteenth-sixteenth centuries, as well as major Catalan Renaissance and Baroque works. The visit concludes with works by nineteenth- and twentieth-century painters who were connected with Girona, such as Urgell, Vayreda, Rusiñol, Berga and Bertrana.
The Museum’s exhibition rooms and gardens periodically host different activities and temporary exhibitions.
Girona Art Museum is located in the exceptional setting of the former Episcopal Palace, the first references to which date from the tenth century. Different areas of the building still conserve their original format. Examples are the gaol, where priests condemned by the ecclesiastical court served prison sentences, and the majestic garden, which is open to the public on different occasions throughout the year.
Girona Synagogue
The Girona Synagogue was an important medieval synagogue in Carrer de Sant Llorenç in Girona, Spain, which served as the centre for early Spanish Kabbalism, with scholars such as Nachmanides, Issac the Blind and Azriel of Girona using the synagogue as a house of learning. The synagogue was built around the 13th century, with large renovations done in the mid 14th century, mostly funded by the Taroç family. Following the Massacre of 1391, the synagogue was desecrated and looted, however in 1415, Ferdinand I of Aragon ordered that the synagogue be restored to the Jews. During the Catalan Civil War the synagogue was partly destroyed, and following the Alhambra Decree of 1492, the synagogue was sold to the canons of Girona Cathedral on the 10th July, 1492 for the price of 300 pounds. Today the site of the synagogue functions as a museum where archaeological finds and documents related to the synagogues of Girona, are displayed.
