Toledo, heart of Sefarad with centuries of history and art, reveals its outstanding splendour and charm in its ancient Jewish Quarter.
Now remembered by all those who were forced to leave it, Toledo welcomes and invites visitors to approach its culture during this European Day of Jewish Culture.
Toledo's Jewish quarter became one of the most important Jewish centres of the western world. Although the presence of the Jews always had a major influence in the life of the town, it was between the 11th and 13th centuries that it reached its splendour.
There was an intense economic and intellectual life. Actually, ten synagogues and five centres for study and prayer were built during these centuries. The social and cultural life of the town was marked by the presence of some relevant figures, such as Samuel ha-Leví (the treasurer of Pedro I of Castile ), Moisés ben Maimón "Maimónides" (doctor and philosopher), Yehuda Halevi (poet), and Yehuda ibn Moshé Cohen (renown translator specialized in astronomy).
In fact, there were two Jewish quarters in Toledo. The Aljama was the main residential area, and it extended from the Gate of Cambrón down to the southern bank of the Tagus river. The most wealthy Jews lived in the area around the Santo Tomé parish church, near the calle del Ángel. Alcaná was the second Jewish quarter. It extended across the Hombre de Palo street and its vicinity and it became the scenery of the town's commercial and business life.
Going through the Jewish Neighbourhood (the old Jewish quarter), you can see the influence of the Sephardic community and its legacy in the History of our city, not forgetting the typical architecture, drawn by its monuments, legends, traditions, anecdotes and peculiar street names, among many others. These have had a big influence in what we see as Toledo nowadays.
Thus, in the route down the Jewish quarter we can see amazing sites and buildings, such as the Calle de la Judería, the Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca, the suburban area of El Degolladero, the Gate of Cambrón or the Synagogue of El Tránsito and the Sephardic museum.
The Jews who once lived in Toledo left a very rich cultural legacy which is not only seen in its streets and monuments, but also in its cuisine; a memory which has been passed on to modern life from a long tradition. Without a doubt, in this uneven distribution, it is a way of experiencing or rather meeting again with “a love for the cuisine brought by Jewish tradition”.
And thus, this can be understood in two ways, since the traditional cuisine also has a material space, where social relationships between different people and generations meet around a table, with the distribution of different roles, a place where the everyday life of Judaism is accompanied by its rites, prayers and songs.
The visitor can walk down the streets and delve into the Sephardic history and Jewish heritage of Toledo through the fantasy of its legends and historical memory.
- more information at www.toledosefarad.org
