Montjuïc is a hill in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is translated as “Jew Mountain” in medieval Catalan. It is believed to have this name because of Jewish settlements and a Jewish cemetery which were once there. Because of the mountain’s strategic location on the Mediterranean and alongside the Llobregat River, this region became the perfect location for the city of Barcelona to develop.
There is evidence of the Jewish cemetery of Barcelona since the eleventh century. In 1391, with the attack on the Call of Barcelona, several tombstones were looted to be sold, and it was not until the 20th century that architectural remains were found again. Thus, in 1945, 171 graves were found after the construction of some pavilions in the area, and in 2001 an excavation uncovered 557 tombs and a tombstone.
The Museum of the History of Barcelona (Catalan: Museu d’Història de Barcelona, MUHBA) is a history museum that conserves, researches, communicates, and exhibits the historical heritage of the city of Barcelona, from its origins in Roman times until the present day. The museum’s headquarters are located on Plaça del Rei, in the Barcelona Gothic Quarter (Barri Gòtic). It also manages several historic sites all around the city, most of them archaeological sites displaying remains of the ancient Roman city, called Barcino in Latin. A few other historical sites in the museum date to the medieval times, including the Jewish quarter and the medieval royal palace called the Palau Reial Major. The rest are contemporary, among them old industrial buildings and sites related to Antoni Gaudí and the Spanish Civil War.
The museum was inaugurated on 14 April, 1943; its principal promoter and first director was the historian Agustí Duran i Sanpere. It belongs to the City Council of Barcelona, as part of the Culture Institute. The Museum of the History of Barcelona has several heritage sites spread all around the city. Most of them are archaeological sites displaying remains of the ancient Roman city, called Barcino. Others refer to medieval times and the rest cover the contemporary city, including old industrial buildings and sites related to Gaudí and the Spanish Civil War.
This square hosts the vestiges of one of the most dramatic episodes of Barcelona’s Jewish history. On the walls of one of the building one can still see the hebrew inscriptions from the tombstones that were used to build the Palau del Lloctinent sometime after the Jewish community was expelled. At the time of the construction of the Palau del Lloctinent, the Jewish quarter had already been razed and after 1492, with the expulsion order that the Catholic Monarchs gave to the entire community, theoretically there were no Jews left in the city. Since the Jewish necropolis had already been dismantled, some of its tombstones were reused as building materials. At the facade of the same type building in the Plaza del Rey, near the Salón del Tinell and at ground level you can also see some stones with Jewish inscriptions.
Marlet Street starts with a headstone recalling the figure of Rabbi Samuel Ha-Sardi. This headstone was discovered in 1820 during construction work on the nearby buildings. The transcription, which appears on the headstone, are from 1826, and a modern interpretation would read: “Pious Foundation of Rabbi Samuel Ha-Sardi: its light burns evermore.” The headstone at Marlet street is now a replica and the original can be seen on display at the History Museum of Barcelona.
The new El Call Interpretation Center is located in Manuel Ribé square, near Sant Domènec del Call Street. It is built on a former Jewish mansion and has multiple uses; it functions as an information and welcoming centre, a place for cultural activities, and a point of interest for tourist who visit the Jewish Quarter. The center showcases everyday objects from the 13th and 14th centuries, found during archaeological excavations in the area. Some of the more noteworthy exhibits include Khanukiyyes, dishes with Hebrew characters, and a facsimile of the illustrated manuscript, the Sarajevo Haggadah, produced in the Catalan region, which depicts 15th-century scenes, and two tombstones with Hebrew inscriptions.
The Centre also holds walking tours of the Barcelona Jewish Quarter for those who are interested in learningm more about the city’s Jewish history. Other activities held at the center include lectures on Jewish history and culture, food tastings of Catalan-Jewish cuisine, Jewish storytelling sessions and summer school activities.
The Jewish Quarter in Barcelona, known as El Call, dates back to the 11th century and refers to the entire set of streets occupied by the Jews. During this time, the municipal authorities had no jurisdiction over the Call as it was directly accountable to the King or the royal bailiffs. From the 14th century, restrictive ordinances for the Jews were issued referring solely to situations or actions outside the Call quarter.
The medieval Jewish Quarter takes up a relatively small area of narrow streets tucked away behind the Cathedral in the oldest part of the city centre. After the 1391 pogroms, the area was largly abandoned even years before the Spanish Inquisition and expulsion of the Jews from Spain.
The Jewish Quarter contains two ancient mikvehs, historic synagogues including the Shlomo Ben Adret Synagogue, which is believed to be one of the oldest synagogues in Europe, as well as the MUHBA El Call museum where one can learn about the Jewish history of Barcelona.
In the middle ages, el Call or Jewish quarter of Barcelona was the largest in the entire Catalan-Aragonese Crown and one of the most important in southern Europe. Initially it occupied the northwestern quarter of the old urban fabric of Barcino. In the more peripheral areas, both Christians and Jews lived together, and the limits were not entirely precise.
The oldest documentary mention of the Jewish presence in Barcelona dates from 875-877, although it is assumed that the Jews settled during the first centuries of the Christian era. At the end of the 11th century, the Callo or Jewish quarter had already been formed. It was a closed and delimited neighborhood, the territory of which was excluded from the parish network of the city. Within the quarter there were synagogues, ritual baths and other institutions that guaranteed the practice of Judaism.
The Jewish community has lived in Rome for 2,200 years without interruption, which makes it one of the oldest communities present outside the land of Israel. Yet I found that, though the numerous tour guides explaining the ghetto have great interest in the Jewish community, their knowledge about it seems limited, especially about practical details. The purpose of my blog is to educate travel professionals, educational and religious institutions from around the globe to learn and expand their knowledge of the people, neighborhood, synagogues, institutions, and cultural events that shape today’s thriving Jewish community of Rome.
Jewish Roma Walking Tours
Micaela is an Italian Roman Jewish woman. Her ancestors came to the Eternal City at the time of the Maccabim before the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem (70 CE). Interestingly, the Roman Jewish community is one of the oldest in the world, dating back to when Judah the Maccabee sent embassies to Rome due to the conflict with the Greeks. This is considered the earliest record of contact between the Jews and the Roman Republic.
Pavoncello has been captivating international audiences from all backgrounds for twenty years about the history of her people—The Jews of Rome.
Jewish Roma Walking Tours are given by Pavoncello and her colleagues from the community. The three-hour excursion, which explains the history of the Roman Jews from antiquity to the present day includes a visit to the museum rooms, the Spanish Synagogue, the Tempio Maggiore (Great Synagogue), and a walk around the former Ghetto Quarter.
During their visit participants will learn about the ancient epigraphical collection, the unique Torah textiles and fabrics, view the collection of liturgy instruments/artefacts, the current exhibition 1848-1871: The Jews of Rome between Segregation to Emancipation, the Shoah and what it was like from Roman Jews, the Libyan community present in Rome, and the history of the Cinque Scole.
Jewish Roma
The Diaspora started after the Roman conquest, particularly during the Bar Kokhba Revolt in 135 CE, and the Jews were dispersed throughout Spain and along with the Mediterranean, (Sephardic Jews) in Central and Northern Europe (Ashkenazi Jews) and in Italy, where Jewish settlements already existed. According to tradition, prayers originated in two different locations, the land of Israel and Babylon. Both traditions are based on a common formula, the Seder Rav Amram, composed in Babylon during the 9th BCE with continuous migrations. the communities scattered throughout the world set down their own autonomous minhag with variations on the main text, additional minhag, and original forms of recitation.
Judaism is both a culture and a religion. It is a way of living and examining life in accordance with the Hebrew Scriptures and rabbinic traditions. The Roman Italian (liturgy) minhag bnei Roma (“from the children of Rome”). Its origins are the closest to the Land of Israel, diverse prayer from other branches of Judaism, and it is recited today in Tempio Maggiore – The Great Synagogue.
Ghetto
From 1555 to 1870, a walled ghetto was instituted in an area near the banks of the Tiber River, which overflowed regularly. It was a walled quarter separating the city’s Jews from the Christian population, its gates opening at dawn and closing at dusk. The Jews were forced to sell their land and property. Jews were required to wear a yellow badge so that they can be recognized as they were forbidden to fraternize with Christians. Jewish physicians were prohibited from treating Christian patients, Jewish merchants were only limited to selling used objects, and the activity of money lenders was regulated to favor the development of Christian-owned banks.
The old ghetto was in the form of a rectangular trapezoid and contained two main streets running parallel to the Tiber River, it had several small streets and alleys, three piazzas, and four piazette that together occupied about one-third of the seven-acre enclosure. The houses were cramped close together and extraordinary measures had to take place in which families had to build floors on top of other floors. Living conditions for Rome’s Jews remained terribly harsh and cruel until the Ghetto was finally demolished in 1870.
Cinque Scole
The Jews forced into the Ghetto were from very different places and cultures. There were local Roman Jews decedents from before and after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem together with those who were forced into Rome from large numbers of towns in the Lazio region. There were also large numbers of Jews from Sicily, Spain, and Portugal after the expulsion order in 1492, the Inquisition.
All of these Jewish groups had different liturgies, languages, customs, and rituals, so that the beginning of the sixteenth century, there were nine to ten different Scole: Tempio, Nova, Quattro Capi, di Porta and/or Portaleone, Catalan-Aragonese, Castilian, French, German and Sicilian. The Pope mandated the use of only one building for worship and this led to the development of placing Cinque Scole (five synagogues joined by stairways and corridors) under one roof.
Shoah (Shoà)
When discussing the experience of Roman Jewry during Nazi Occupation, it is important to learn about Jewish life in Rome from a member of the community. On July 14, 1938, under the auspices of the Ministry of Popular Culture, there were scientists who produced a document called Il fascimo e I problemi della razza – Manifesto of Race. The manifesto document was edited by Benito Mussolini himself, was inconsistent by a scientific viewpoint, and was drafted for propaganda purposes, to demonstrate that the Jewish problem was founded in biology, and was no longer only religious, psychological, or philosophical. The Italian Jewish population was forced to declare itself the “Jewish race”: a real and true census. All those who had at least one Jewish parent had to incriminate themselves. This was not just an isolated historical event, but something much bigger and more complex. It placed all people of the Jewish faith, considered as belonging to a different race, inferior and dangerous.
Pavoncello narrates on her tours the darkest and most painful day of Roman Judaism –October 16, 1943. She tells personal family stories about anti-Semitism and when the Nazis deported her great-grandmother. In addition, she also shares with participants a great day of emotion for the entire Pavoncello family, when the great-grandchildren of Nonna Emma Di Porto Pavoncello all gathered in the Garbatella district in Rome for the laying of the Stolperstein stumbling block in her memory. Never Forget!
Authors note:
Explanations inside the museum and synagogue complexes are only allowed from a member and/or an authorized educator from the Jewish community of Rome.
About the Writer, Brenda Lee Bohen
Brenda is a Latina and a proud Veteran of the United States Army Reserves. She holds dual citizenship in both the United States and Italy. She is a trained historic preservationist who tirelessly advocates the scholarship and history of the Jews of Rome. She has her certification in Jewish leadership and continues advanced studies at the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership. Brenda is also a licensed and accredited tour guide at the Jewish Museum of Rome and the Vatican Museums.
The Italians of the Jewish Race: The anti-Semitic Laws of 1938 and the Jews of Rome (Palombi Editore, 2018)
Treasures Of The Jewish Museum Of Rome: Guide To The Museum And Its Collections by Daniela Di Castro. Arnaldo De Luca Editore, Rome 2010; reprinted 2016
Greek Jewish survivor David Baruch gave testimony, and members of Congress and foreign dignitaries – including the ambassadors of Greece, Israel, and Portugal, and the spokesperson for the Japanese embassy – also spoke. Representatives of the Embassy of Germany, and other nations were also among the attendees at the January 27 online event.
“Heroes and Memory”
The theme for the 2022 commemoration was “Heroes and Memory” with descendants of the “Righteous Among the Nations” and those whom they rescued taking part in the event, including Nobuki Sugihara, son of Chiune Sugihara, and Sugihara survivor Nathan Lewin, a well-known Washington lawyer.
The Sistine Chapel is one of the Vatican’s proudest features. The chapel is famous for its amazing collection of Renaissance art, painted by some of the world’s most famous artists. What grabs people’s attention is that the frescoes completely cover the walls and the ceiling. Also, Popes are elected here, and the history of the world has been changed by the casting of ballots, making it one of the most famous places in the world.
A visit to the Sistine Chapel from a Jewish perspective is different from a Christian view. Jewish interpretations immediately reveal the stories from the Torah.
Sistine Chapel from a Jewish Point of View
In the Sistine Chapel, the Torah is visual to Jewish visitors. American scholar Andrea Beth Stoler has been conducting Judeo-Christian-themed tours for over a decade. With her scientific background and sense of humor, she will be observing, explaining, and passing on this ancient wisdom through her new Vatican Museum and Basilica virtual tours.
Jewish visitors will immediately notice the presence of the story of Moses and Hebrew prophets. In addition, the story of Judith, who beheaded the pagan enemy general Holofernes and the story of David who beheaded Goliath (Samuel I:17) can be seen. Interestingly, the story of Esther and Haman (both in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles), read every year by the Jews on the holiday of Purim can also be seen in the Pope’s private chapel.
One thing for sure is that you will see aspects of Torah, Midrash, and Kabala in the chapel. To really see the Torah is not about a fleeting or casual glance; it is a long, loving look that changes us spiritually.
Andrea Beth Stoler
Andrea, who lives full time in Rome is an accredited tour guide in the Vatican Museums, making her the only Jewish American Woman who regularly takes visitors from all backgrounds through its artistic treasures. She has launched a new Virtual Tour called “A Virtual Tour of the Sistine Chapel from a Jewish Point of View” guiding you to a more profound encounter of the Torah and hidden messages by Michelangelo and his relationship with Judaism.
About the Writer, Brenda Lee Bohen
Brenda is a Latina and a proud Veteran of the United States Army Reserves. She holds dual citizenship in both the United States and Italy. She is a trained historic preservationist who tirelessly advocates the scholarship and history of the Jews of Rome. She has her certification in Jewish leadership and continues advanced studies at the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership. Brenda is also a licensed and accredited tour guide at the Jewish Museum of Rome and the Vatican Museums.
A visit to Anne Frank House is usually at the top of people’s list when traveling to Amsterdam. The Anne Frank House Museum in central Amsterdam is a haunting yet beautiful house that is home to the diary that Anne wrote during her long days in hiding. For an authentic, subdued experience that is historical and eye-opening this tribute to the family and people who hid from the Nazis during the Second World War is not to be missed.
About Anne Frank House
Since its initial opening in 1960, The Anne Frank House has been attracting more than a million visitors each year. While the Anne Frank House Museum is very busy, the house is a moving space and one that is worth the visit. We visited Anne Frank House on our first visit to Amsterdam years ago and it has always stayed with us.
Since it had been a while, we enlisted the help of KT Browne to update the details of how to enter, and what to expect during your visit to the Anne Frank House Museum.
The annex, still visible today, was hidden from view by nearby houses during the war, which made it the perfect hiding place. The house itself was used by Otto Frank to run his workshop which he rented from the Pieron Family. The ground and first floor were used for his business and the rest was used as offices space and storage.
When things became too dangerous, the Frank family used the second and third floors to go into hiding. Business continued as usual on the ground and first floors and the only access to their hiding place was through the bookcase. The unusual setup of the house, made it so that nobody took notice of what went on behind the bookcase in the secret annex of Prinsengracht 263.
Tips For Visiting Anne Frank House
Located right at Prinsengracht 263 in Amsterdam on the Prinsengracht Canal, the inhabited rooms of the Anne Frank House are only 500 square feet in total. It consists of the main house and the hidden annex, which is where Anne Frank went into hiding and wrote her famous, beloved diary during World War II.
There are numerous exhibition spaces throughout the museum that show various pages from her notebook, a wide array of artifacts, bookcases, and former living spaces.
Queues at Anne Frank Museum Entrance – Prinsengracht 263
Tickets to The Anne Frank House are only sold online and allocated for specific time slots—so be sure to show up on time! Because the house is so popular, crowds are common at the Anne Frank House Museum entrance, but they do seem to disappear once inside thanks to the time slots, along with a quiet and calm atmosphere. Purchase your tickets to Anne Frank House in advance here.
If you cannot make your time and tickets are already booked, they do not reschedule or offer refunds, so make sure you will be going on the day you plan for. They used to allot 20% of tickets to be sold on the same day, but that option is no longer available.
Once inside, there are no guided tours offered at Anne Frank House, but there is a free audio tour. It certainly deepens the experience, so we highly recommend it.
Photography is not allowed inside the museum in order to preserve the quality of the artifacts. Leave your camera at home. Also, since there are many narrow stairwells, the house isn’t recommended for people with mobility issues.
Introductory Program
Before visiting Anne Frank House make sure to read the Diary of Anne Frank. It will give you a deeper understanding of the experience. You can purchase it here on Amazon for Kindle, audiobook, hardcover, or paperback.
If you haven’t read the book, you can purchase a 30-minute introductory program that you can do before your visit. You will learn of the history of Anne Frank and about the persecution of Jews during the Second World War. It will give you a better understanding to help prepare you for your visit.
Above all, visit The Anne Frank House with an open heart and mind; it’s a little slice of a very important part of history that we all would benefit from knowing more about.
What To Expect In Anne Frank House
Entrance to Secret Annex at Anne Frank House Museum
Visitors have the chance to wander through the museum’s many rooms, nooks, and crannies to get a real sense of Anne Frank’s experience. Through quotes, photos, film images, and a wide range of original items (including her beloved diary), Anne Frank is brought to life in an authentic yet respectful way. It’s an experience that shouldn’t be missed.
The house’s steep stairwells and original artifacts are incredibly moving, a walk through Anne Frank House pulls you back in time.
Visitors can wander freely throughout Anne Frank House, so be sure to take as much in as you can. Also, don’t miss the hinged bookcase and the entrance to the secret annex behind it—it’s extraordinary.
The main exhibition space is a thoughtful, rich tribute to the persecution and discrimination of Anne and thousands of Jews faced during the war. Much of the Anne Frank House museum is perfectly preserved, making the experience of visiting incredibly authentic, if not slightly haunting.
About Anne Frank
Anne Frank
Anne Frank was a young Jewish girl, who hid from the Nazis with her family and four other people in the “secret annex” of this 17th-century canal house during World War II. Anne remained hidden in the annex for two years and one month until the Nazi authorities raided the space, arrested her and others she was in hiding with. They deported them to concentration camps which ultimately led to her death where she died of Typhus Fever at the age of 15.
Only Anne’s father Otto survived the concentration camps. It was recently discovered that Arnold van den Bergh, a Jewish figure in Amsterdam betrayed Anne Frank’s family to save his own. After 70 years of speculation, a team of investigators finally put the pieces of the puzzle together. You can read more details here.
In 1947, Anne posthumously became world-famous because of the diary she wrote while in hiding for two years. Her diary along with hundreds of loose pages chronicled her life in poetic detail.
The Diary of Anne Frank is a detailed account of daily events, along with her fears, hopes, and dreams, and has come to be loved by millions around the world not only because of the acute insight it offers about the nature of man but because it’s beautifully written. Read it now and order on Amazon
If you are visiting Amsterdam, save these Anne Frank House tips to Pinterest for future travel planning.
When visiting Amsterdam be sure to put Anne Frank House Museum at the top of your list. The pictures taped to the walls of Anne Frank’s bedroom and other exhibits offer a better understanding of an incredible person and the opportunity to reflect on the resilience of the human spirit at large.
You may be interested in this tour to accompany your visit to Anne Frank House Museum. Jewish Cultural Quarter Tour includes an entrance to the Jewish Cultural Quarter that you can visit before or after your tour, and then you can join a 2-hour tour of this Anne Frank-themed walking tour. If you want to enter Anne Frank House you will need to purchase that ticket online separately in advance.
Photography credits:
Source Wikipedia: Own work by uploader |Author=Bungle
View the original article here, written by KT Browne.
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🌍 Celebrating One Year of the Jewish Silk Road Portal
World Jewish Travel was thrilled at #IMTM 2024 to present a copy of the WJT Jewish Silk Road Pressbook to the CEO of the Azerbaijan National Tourism Board Florian Sengstschmid and Jamilya Talibzade its Israeli representative Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB).
The Pressbook celebrates the one year anniversary of the Jewish Silk Road Portal launch, an amazing example of using Jewish travel as a means of cultural diplomacy, whilst highlighting the significant Jewish contribution to the ancient trade route. Kudos to our participating partners from the Kiriaty Foundation (Turkey), National Board of Tourism of #Georgia, National Board of Tourism of #Uzbekistan, and Israeli Embassy of #India.
See the overwhelming reaction from the press, by downloading our free pressbook. Special thanks to Moshe Gilad of the @haaretzcom for highlighting this forgotten but important story in the Galeria section of the newspaper and available to download on WJT.
👉Link to WJT Jewsih Silk Rad Pressbook and more is in our bio
🌍 Celebrating One Year of the Jewish Silk Road Portal
World Jewish Travel was thrilled at #IMTM 2024 to present a copy of the WJT Jewish Silk Road Pressbook to the CEO of the Azerbaijan National Tourism Board Florian Sengstschmid and Jamilya Talibzade its Israeli representative Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB).
The Pressbook celebrates the one year anniversary of the Jewish Silk Road Portal launch, an amazing example of using Jewish travel as a means of cultural diplomacy, whilst highlighting the significant Jewish contribution to the ancient trade route. Kudos to our participating partners from the Kiriaty Foundation (Turkey), National Board of Tourism of #Georgia, National Board of Tourism of #Uzbekistan, and Israeli Embassy of #India.
See the overwhelming reaction from the press, by downloading our free pressbook. Special thanks to Moshe Gilad of the @haaretzcom for highlighting this forgotten but important story in the Galeria section of the newspaper and available to download on WJT.
👉Link to WJT Jewsih Silk Rad Pressbook and more is in our bio...
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Step into the soul-stirring Pesach traditions of Jerusalem virtually. Experience the resonating echoes of Birkat Kohanim🌿
