The Jewish quarter of Palma, a historical legacy hidden in the center of the city
The Jewish
community in Palma left a large legacy that can be seen in the streets and in
some artisan shops that keep alive the medieval trace.
In fact,
the Jewish legacy of Palma is one of the best in the country, as recorded by
the Network of Spanish Jewish “Caminos de Sefarad”: "In no Spanish city
has the Jewish legacy managed to maintain itself through the centuries as in
Palma".
During the
Muslim period, the Jews lived inside the citadel, bounded by walls, where today
are the palace of the Almudaina and the March library.
Later, in
the first third of the thirteenth century, the call menor (the minor Jewish quarter) is first mentioned, which
would be located in the Carrer de Colom.
Nowadays, however, nothing remains but mentions and narrow alleys in which it
is easy to imagine how people lived here in the Middle Ages.
In
addition, in the vicinity of the call,
the Parlament de les Illes Balears
sits on the old convent of Santo Domingo, where some Jewish houses were located
before.
The call mayor (the main Jewish quarter of
Palma) arose in the late 13th century near the current Santa Eulàlia square.
Shortly after, it became the place of residence for all the Hebrew inhabitants
of the city. According to documentary references, there were three synagogues,
the New, the Third and the Major, the current church of Montesión. Nearby is
the sculpture dedicated to cartographer and navigator Jafudà Cresques, author
of the Catalan Atlas, exhibited today at the National Library of Paris.
As in the Iberian
Peninsula, life for the Jews was not easy in Palma. In the 14th century, many
of them fled or converted to Christianity; a decision that became mandatory
after 1435.
Traditional
Mallorcan surnames such as Fortesa, Pinya, Aguiló, Pomar and Miró are part of
the Hebrew legacy and this trace also exists in places like the Almudaina,
Porto Pí (where its cemetery was located) and even in the Cathedral, where you
can find the Rimonim of the Torah.
