Day 14: The Jewish Quarter of Barcelona

With Rosh Hashanah near, we took a private tour of the Jewish Quarter of Barcelona. We had an Israeli young woman who is living here as our guide. She was really great. As with many places in Spain, there isn't a lot left of the Jewish presence. We wandered streets close to the Jewish quarter and learned a lot about the history of the neighborhood. The Romans were in Spain for an extended period, but in Barcelona there is very little evidence of their presence. These columns were found inside the patio of a private residence.

These towers near the cathedral are all that's left of the Roman wall surrounding the city. In the second photo there is a little piece of aqueduct still standing that brought water into the city. The third photo shows where the water was stored--they are now filled with apartments. 

Here is one of the streets in the Jewish Quarter. There is a small synagogue that is being restored.

It's kind of hard to see, but this hole in a door jam is where mezuzahs were displayed. There are only two of these left in the quarter.

This innocuous patio is not so innocent. It's the place where the inquisition carried out the killing of Jews and anyone else who was not a Catholic.

We also wandered through the royal palace. This is the main square.

And looked at all the gargoyles on the church including this unicorn. Unexpected.

This sculpture on a wall of the street is a pretty cool St. George and the dragon. They call him Jordi here--love that for some reason.

We did a lot of wandering after the tour and enjoyed the beauty of the city.

We had an early dinner in Place Reial looking at Gaudi's lampposts and people watching.

After dinner we strolled down to the port and then back up Las Rambas.

Another amazing day.