The Sephardic Legacy in Spain

THE SEPHARDIC LEGACY IN CÓRDOBA AND THE SURROUNDING AREA

The best way to discover Seville's Se phardic past is to visit the Jewish Quar ter Visitor Centre in Seville which is not only a museum but also organises guided tours in several languages. LUCENA This city in the province of Córdoba was known as the Pearl of Sepharad and in the 11th and 12th centuries it was home to one of the most extraordinary Talmud schools in the West. Many of its learned scholars would later move to the School of Translators in Toledo. The last king of Granada, Boabdil el Chico, before surrendering to the Catholic Monarchs, was held prisoner in the tower of the Castillo del Moral , a fortress which today houses the city's Archaeological and Ethnographic Mu seum where a number of important ar chaeological finds from the region are exhibited. You should visit the parish church of San Mateo which was constructed over the old synagogue, and the beautiful pal ace of the Counts of Santa Ana . Here is where you'll find the City of Lucena Vis itor Centre , essential for discovering its Jewish past. Take the Calle Flores de Negrón to ac cess the Santiago neighbourhood . Here you'll find the parish church of Santiago Apóstol outside which stands the bust of Yosef Ibn Meir Ha-Levi Ibn Megas , one of Lucena's most important Rabbis.

EL MORAL CASTLE LUCENA, CORDOBA

Photo: joserpizarro/123rf.com

The cemetery stands on the outskirts of the city centre and still preserves its sa cred character for the Sephardic com munity.

The Sepharad Trail through Andalusia is completed with a visit to the neighbouring city of Jaén . Start in the Plaza de Santa María with the admirable Renaissance cathedral

CATHEDRAL OF LA ASUNCIÓN JAÉN

7