Jewish Heritage - Évora Tour
On this Tour we'll visit the main monuments of Evora with an emphasis on the Jewish religion. I've worked with the Department of Jewish Studies at the University of Évora and participated in some archaeological excavations of ancient Synagogues. In Évora we have a medieval shop of a Jewish family with the Mezuzah in some of the interior portals. This shop is located in the center of the medieval city and inside the oldest wall of Évora. Here we had the old fish market and we're very close to the old Synagogue, now the Church of Santiago. In Evora we have a huge Jewish quarter from medieval times with two Synagogues. Today we can still see some of the Mezuzah on the medieval gothic portals. Today the heart of the city is Giraldo Square, where the terrible "autos-da-fé" took place. From those days we have a cemetery under our feet that goes unnoticed by passers-by. Right next to the Roman Temple we'll find the fearsome general headquarters of the Alentejo's Inquisition which we can visit.
Many Cultures and Religions passed through the territory that is today Portugal. Our Cultural Identity is very rich because it results precisely from this diversity. Unfortunately for 300 years the Inquisition impoverished Portugal with its persecutions. One of the religions persecuted was Judaism. In the Middle Ages around 10% of the population of the Iberian Peninsula were from the Jewish faith. Probably 500,000 people in Portugal and Spain. Iberia was "Sefarad" or the "distant land" for these people.
The Jews probably arrived in the Iberian Peninsula with the Phoenicians in the Iron Age. The Phoenicians were a group of city-states with different religions and similar languages. In the Roman City of Ammaia, in the Municipality of Marvão, we have the oldest archaeological evidence of the Jewish faith in what is now Portuguese territory. A Roman ringstone depicting the Menorah and other symbols related to the Jewish faith from the 2nd or 3rd century. Jews began to be discriminated against in the Roman Empire when Christianity became the official religion in the 4th century. In the 5th century several Germanic tribes arrived in Iberia including the Visigoths. These Arian Christians ended up conquering the entire Peninsula converting to Catholicism in the 6th century. The persecution against the Jewish faith continued. Only with the arrival of Islam in Iberia, at the beginning of the 8th century, did the Jews enjoy some religious freedom. With the reconquest, persecution returned. In the 15th century the Inquisition was born and in 1492 the Jews were expelled from Spain. D Manuel also ended up expelling them from Portugal in 1496. A third of the Jewish population was effectively expelled or exiled. Two-thirds were forcibly converted to Christianity. The latter became known as New Christians. Some have secretly maintained the traditions of their faith to this day. The Crypto Jews of Belmonte are the best example.
