History in Short

During the Middle Ages, Tarazona was an exemplary town concerning the harmonic and fruitful neighbourhood of the three main cultures coexisting at that time on Spanish territory. This living side by side is reflected today in the urban structure of Old Tarazona and it´s historical monuments. Its civil, public and religious buildings, the palaces, the houses of the ordinary people and the historical streets are the visible exponents of the rich life of the Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities, sharing the city´s history during 400 years.

Tarazona´s cathedral was erected in most parts by Muslim Alarifes, or foremen; the gothic altarpiece inside, of great artistic value, is a piece of work of Tarazona´s Jew Johan de Levi. Outside, the majestic edifice of the cathedral is surrounded by the graceful towers of other churches built in the mudéjar style, some of them mosques in historical times. There still exists one mosque, currently under restoration and one Jewish public building beside the remains of the former synagogue.

The streets, small squares and houses of the Judería, the former Jewish quarter, seem to bring you back to the the year 1492. This quarter occupied about 15% of the medieval Tarazona.

After having been taken from the Muslims by King Alfonso I of Aragón, Tarazona sheltered an academy of translators. Very little is known today about this academy, but it is certain that it was one of the main entrances through which Greek, Roman and Muslim literature and scientific writings reached Europe´s monasteries, universities and cathedrals. There are some medieval texts written in Hebrew in Tarazona´s cathedral archives, still waiting to be studied. The city´s archive of notarial and lawyer´s records also guards numerous documents about the Jewish Aljama (quarter), as well as the exact names and surnames of its inhabitants.

The war, from 1357 to 1370 between King Peter The Cruel of Castille and King Peter The Ceremonious of Aragón, the main Kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula at that time, left the frontier town of Tarazona almost in ruins. Historical documents tell the enormous efforts of its Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities to reconstruct the town, very specially underlining the contribution of the Jewish inhabitants to the rebuilding of the defensive walls.

Without any doubt, this coexistence and common work between different comunities later saved the city of Tarazona from the wave of repression and progroms that in the year 1391 fell over the Spanish Jewry. At the height of this prosecution, taking place in many towns and villages of both the Kingdoms of Castille and Aragón, the Justicia (judge of the common) of Tarazona proclaimed an edict, following which any harm done to its Jewry would be severly punished. Some days later, the town council, made up of 88 citizens and presided by the Justicia and the Jurors, in an extraordinary session, decided the following:

1. To do no harm, nor permitting any harm done, to the Jewish Aljama, its inhabitants and their properties,
2. To guarantee the free transit of persons and merchandises through the city.

Until their expulsion, in 1492, the Jews of Tarazona were not only always present in the history of this town, but also gave to the Kingdom of Aragón a series of personalities who excelled in its social, economic, cultural and even political and administrative life.

Based on these historical facts, and the notable presence of documents and buildings in Tarazona (yet still unknown to many, even in our own town), we want to start an international campaign in search of funds and support to finance our projects, in order to preserve this heritage, in memory of the Sephardic community of that time and in respect for the actual one, living all over the world.

Tarazona, Encyclopedia Judaica.

   Association of Friends of theJewish Culture of Tarazona  "Moshe de Portella"