Western Andalusia Route

A tour of Western Andalusia will take us round the Jewish quarters of Seville, Cordoba and Lucena, where we can find traces of the Jewish communities that lived in various towns during the Middle Ages, for example:

• Niebla: The town’s synagogue, an old house on Calle Real. Its frescos tell us that it was one of the most magnificent synagogues in Andalusia.

• Cadiz: There are remains all round the city, like a menorah depicted on a wall in Plaza San Martín, a hanukiah in Calle Suárez de Salazar, and Lions of Judah on the lintel of a door on Calle San Francisco.

• Jerez de la Frontera: Jerez’s Jewish quarter still has part of its old irregular layout, with narrow streets.

• Lucena: Known as “The Pearl of Sepharad”, Jewish and Muslim chroniclers before the European Renaissance described it as the “City of Jews” between the 9th and the 12th century. These traces from the past can be found all over the city – in the old synagogue (currently the Parish Church of San Mateo), Plaza del Coso Square (Plaza de España), the sculpture of Rabbi Yosef Ibn Meir Ha-Levi Ibn Megas and the Parish Church and neighbourhood of Santiago.