Tortosa: mediterranean city, the jewish presence

There is evidence of the existence of Jews in the city since Visigoth. However, the first news of the existence of a call, or concrete space inhabited by the community and for their exclusive use, is after the Christian conquest.

It was then that the Count Ramon Berenguer IV, by the letter of franchises, donates Arab shipyards for the construction of sixty houses. Later, around the thirteenth century, the Call expanded, and built what they new Call when the Lordship of Tortosa, represented by Ramon de Montcada and the friars of the Temple, gave a letter of franchises to 25 Jews for their construction.

The tour starts in the Plaza de la Inmaculada, and continues down the street Jaume Tió and Noah to the streets of Jerusalem and in Fortó. It is in this place where documentary sources give the possible location of the synagogue, the carnage and the oven. The route continues down Main Street Remolins, separating the old Call of new Call again. After the street was Vimpeçol portal, allowing the output of the Call walled its northern sector. It is right on the precipice of Celio up to the tower or tower Celio Vimpeçol Grossa. From there, cross the square Saruq ben Menahem is followed by the crossing Vandellòs, one of the narrow alleys of the call, until the call site of the Jews. This is the only site that remains of the old Jewish quarter, which gave way, outside, in the Jewish cemetery.

Returning through the portal of the Jews, the route follows Call again. This remains almost intact its urban structure, a labyrinthine network of narrow streets and picturesque squares chaired by wells. The medieval mosque Tortosa was one of the most important in Catalonia, both economically and culturally. The commercial and financial activities of its most prominent Christian population benefited indirectly. Call is exited through the streets Remolins Mayor and Santa Ana to reach the cathedral.

From the fourteenth century, the Jews suffer a process of social pressure that will result in mass migrations and conversions. In February 1413, took place in the cathedral of Tortosa Dispute, controversy convened by Pope Benedict XIII to discuss the arrival of the Messiah and the loss of meaning of the Jewish religion. The pressures and persecutions grew from that moment, and culminated in the expulsion of the Jews from the peninsula in 1492.

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