41) Granada - The Palace of the Forgotten

      Strolling along the river, RIO DARRO

on my way to The Palace of the Forgotten  

           

             Along Carrera del DARRO

             Good location for lunch?!

Palacio de Los Olvidados. Casa Sephardi

       The Palace of the Forgotten

"Lest we forget, the Jews played a vital role in the glorious Nasrid kingdom of Granada that reigned from the 1200s to 1492 built on peaceful Christian, Muslim and Jewish coexistence. The aptly named 'palace of the forgotten', which opened in January 2014 in the Albayzín revisits this oft-ignored Jewish legacy. It's the second and best of Granada's new Jewish-related museums with seven rooms filled with attractively displayed relics (scrolls, costumes and ceremonial artifacts) amassed from around Spain.

A well-versed guide takes you round the exhibits."

lonelyplanet.com

Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/spain/granada/sights/museums-galleries/palacio-de-los-olvidados#ixzz3QHr64QlK

"The Palace of the Forgotten (Palacio de los Olvidados) is a palace from the XVI c. also known as the Palace of Santa Inés. Is one of the few aristocratic houses from the Albaycin that is still in perfect conditions. It is thought that the house belonged to a “converso” that wanted to erase his Jewish past, that is why the coats of arms from the facade are destroyed. 

Close to the Alhambra and to the “Carrera del Darro” this 500 year building is now a cultural space where the magnificent art collection from the family Crespo López is shown with the intention to remind us the great importance that the Jewish culture had in Spain, and in particular, in Granada.
Through the six rooms where the pieces are distributed, the visitor can view the different periods of the Jewish history in Spain, always with the illustrative help of one of the guides from the Palace.

The creation of the Palace of the Forgotten (Palacio de los Olvidados) started with then private initiative of the family Crespo López, responsibles of the discovery, preservation and restoration of the Synagogue of the water (Sinagoga del Agua) of Úbeda (Jaén). This is an unique building that with under the management of Artificis has become an important reference about the Sephardic culture in that city, World Heritage by the UNESCO." (palaciodelosolvidados.com/en/)

      Flamenco music is based on Hebrew liturgical music. Fancy that! True also of many successful modern musicals.

"The Conversos

In the 31st March of 1492 the Catholic Kings will sign in the Alhambra the famous "Edict of Expulsion", because of that all the Jewish population will have to abandon their beloved Sepharad. This room explains about the ones that did not leave, the ones who converted to Christianity, known as "conversos", "new Christians" and also "marranos". Here we explain all the difficulties that the "conversos"

will encounter to prove that they were "normal" Christians to the Spanish Inquisition. Some will keep symbols and traditions (hidden), others will be forgotten forever."

palaciodelosolvidados.com/en/

This menorah's centrepiece disguises its Jewishness. It is removable so can be replaced when needed.

             Sephardic Shabbath

It is believed that the pomegranate has 613 seeds which is the same number as the Jewish Halachic laws. That is why the pomegranate is of such symbolic importance.

      This is a 'secret' Magen David disguised as a floral decoration by Conversos in the 16th century.

My guide, Jorge, tells me that it was Samuel ibn Naghrillah Hanagid who started the project of the Alhambra.

"The Origins of the Alhambra as a Jewish Fortress

Although the Alhambra, the famous fortress-palace complex that sits magnificently on the Sabika hill overlooking Granada, is very much the product of the Nasrid dynasty (1238-1492) and has become the most recognizable symbol of al-Andalus, there is evidence to suggest that it was originally a palatial residence of the Jewish viziers of the Zirid dynasty (1013-1090). It is almost certain that before Granada rose to prominence as an Andalusi Muslim capital during the Taifa period, most of its population was Jewish, a fact that earned it the name “Gharnatah al-Yahud” (Granada of the Jews) by contemporary Muslims. Although there may have been a small fortification on the Sabika hill as early as 889, it was not until the early eleventh century that a Jewish vizier named Samuel ibn Naghrillah, or Samuel HaNagid (d. 1056), constructed a fortress on the hill and made it his residence. During the vizierate of Samuel’s son, Joseph, we have even clearer evidence of the construction of a fortification. The last Zirid emir of Granada, Abd Allah ibn Buluggin (d. 1095) records this fact in his memoirs, known as the Tibyan:

“Out of fear of the [increasingly-hostile] populace, Yusuf [ibn Naghrillah] moved from his house to the citadel (qasaba)…moreover, it is suspected that he had built for himself the Alhambra fortress (al-Hamra’) with a view to taking refuge there with his family…” This sentence, mentioned in passing, provides important evidence about the origins of the fortress-palace complex of the Alhambra. It seems, then, that the magnificent structure of the Alhambra owes its origins, at least in part, to a Jewish vizier. Moreover, as Abd Allah ibn Buluggin emphasizes, it became prominent because of its strategic location as a place of refuge for the elite from a potentially-hostile populace. Quite significant is the identification of the fortress by name as al-Hamra (Alhambra) which shows that it was known by this name almost two centuries before the advent of the Nasrids. The name (meaning “The Red Fortress”) probably stems from the red-colored brick which was used to construct it. 

There is definitely a lot more that can be said about the role of Samuel HaNagid and his son Joseph in establishing the Alhambra as a fortified palatial residence in Granada, which was transformed from a village into an illustrious capital under the patronage and rule of the Zirids and these two Jewish viziers. Indeed, it is not without tragic irony that the infamous Edict of Expulsion, which ended the legal existence of Judaism in Spain, was signed by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492 in the very same Alhambra."

ballandalus.wordpress.com

Samuel ibn Naghrillah^[1] (Hebrew: שמואל הלוי בן יוסף הנגיד, Sh'muel HaLevi ben Yosef HaNagid; Arabic: أبو إسحاق إسماعيل بن النغريلة Abu Iṣḥāq Ismā‘īl bin an-Naghrīlah), also known as Samuel HaNagid (Hebrew: שמואל הנגיד, Shmuel HaNagid, lit. Samuel the Prince) (born 993; died after 1056), was a Talmudic scholar, grammarian, philologist, soldier, politician, patron of the arts, and an influential medieval Hebrew poet who lived in Iberia at the time of the Moorish rule. His poetry was one area in which he was well known for.^[2] He was perhaps the most influential Jew, politically, in Muslim Spain. ^[3]

Samuel ibn Naghrillah had a son named Joseph ibn Naghrela (Joseph ibn Naghrillah) (1035-1066), who succeeded to his father's position of vizier of Granada before he turned twenty-one.^[4] Many Muslims, envious of his position and unhappy with Joseph's excesses, accused Joseph of using his office to benefit Jewish friends. Joseph ha-Nagid was assassinated in a mob uprising against him on December 30, 1066. The people then proceeded to crucify his body upon the city's main gate. The following morning on December 31, 1066, the massacre of Granada's Jews began and a mob went on a rampage in Granada, killing a large number of Jewish inhabitants. The Jewish community was later reestablished but was destroyed again in 1090 by the Almoravids.^[3]"

^{(en.m.wikipedia.org - Samuel ibn Naghrillah)}

       Yoshua  Ha-Levi's sleeve book, long and thin so it can be concealed inside the sleeve when fleeing the authorities.

"The sleeve book was written by Joshua Ha-Levi in the XII Century and it is a liturgy book for Sabbath. That is why he wrote it in the sleeve book format because the Almohades were chasing them and obviously having a liturgy book for Sabbath was dangerous."

Jorge Rodríguez-Babé, my well-informed and erudite guide at the Palacio de Los Olvidados.

      Women were forbidden to read or to be taught scholarly texts.

"Everything end, and this is the end of the splendor of the Sephardic Jews in Spain. This part of our history will mark completely the development of the country. The institution of the Spanish Inquisition will be established in 1478 with the purpose of keeping the " good practices" of the Christian religion and that will end up causing the signing of the   Edict of Expulsion of 1492. This room ( Sala de la Inquisition) will make the visitor see all the details that will mark their expulsion, and that will cause a global weakness in Spain, specially intellectual."

(palaciodelosolvidados.com/en/)

        Back to the river to relocate the present tense after facing the terrifying, sad past of our destroyed Sephardic population and culture.

36 a) Article: Jews may be gone, but Córdoba shows off their heritage

THE JEWISH ADVOCATE JANUARY 7, 2011 TRAVEL 17 Jews may be gone, but Cordoba shows off their heritage

By Curt Leviant and Erika Pfeifer Leviant Special to the Advocate

It’s only a two-hour train ride from Madrid to Cordoba, but the atmosphere is miles apart. First of all, the weather. Whereas it was mild in October in Madrid, sunny Cordoba, much further south, felt like Florida.

And the sunshine is not only outdoors. The storied Andalusian temperament is obvious as soon as you arrive. Smiling faces and a general atmosphere of good cheer prevail – this despite the nearly 20 percent unemployment rate in Spain.

When we got off the train we took a bus to the Old Town, with its 1,000-year-old Jewish Quarter. But once at the bus stop, we did not know which way to head. Seeing our plight, a woman offered to guide us. Indeed, five minutes later we stood before the massive walls of the Old Town of Cordoba, which touched the greatest figures of Hebrew poetry and Jewish literature and thought in the Middle Ages: Hasdai ibn Shaprut, Judah Halevi, Abraham ibn Ezra and Maimonides.

We entered through the thick stone gate and found our hotel, the five-star Las Casas de la Juderia, a renovated old palace with gorgeous interior courtyards, pools and greenery, typical of Spanish houses in Andalusia. The helpful staff – and the luxurious rooms and service – made our three-day stay a delight.

Cordoba is inextricably bound up with Maimonides, the great luminary of Jewish law, teaching and medicine. And indeed the city shows its pride with a beautiful statue in the Juderia, the Jewish Quarter.

Walking along the narrow twisted lanes in the quarter that still preserves its original layout thrusts the visitor back to the era when Jews lived and thrived here starting in the early 8th century. Cordoba became a center for in- tellectual ferment in the 10th century thanks to the efforts of Hasdai ibn Shaprut, a leading physician, translator, diplomat and treaty negotiator for Caliph Abd al-Rahman III. Hasdai attracted philosophers, poets and scholars to Cordoba and personally supported a number of them.

While on his way to Granada the great Hebrew poet and philosopher Judah Halevi stopped in Cordoba and won a poetry writing contest. Another shining light of the Golden Age in Spain who lived here for a while was Halevi’s close friend Abraham ibn Ezra, poet, Bible commentator and Hebrew grammarian.

Maimonides, who was born in 1135, spent his childhood in Cordoba until the invasion of the Almohades, who forced the Jews to convert to Islam and destroyed the Jewish community. Maimonides’ family fled to Egypt, where he later became physician to the ruler of Egypt.

Attracting scores of visitors daily is the still extant synagogue on Calle Judios (Jews’ Street), built in 1315 by Isaac Moheb ben Ephraim when the Christians ruled Cordoba. Declared a national monument in 1885, it has a high ceiling and intricately decorated walls in the Arabic style, but it is not overly spacious. Other synagogues surely stood here to accommodate all Jews on Sabbaths and holidays.

Nearby is a beautifully wrought statue of Maimonides, which seems to have some magical properties among the common folk. We happened upon two French school girls rubbing their palms on the statue’s brass shoes. “It has a calming effect on the spirit,” they explained.

Along the same street is a private museum known as Sephardic House. Tickets are rather expensive, but this two-story building is quite attractive on the inside, with a lovely court-yard, arches and trees. One major flaw is that the displayed items lack dates and provenance.

Especially bothersome was a huge key on display in a glass case above the cash register (which was endlessly busy) labeled “a key to the house of a Sephardic Jew” from pre-1492. These keys, part of the legends surrounding Sephardic Jewry, are supposedly emblematic of their longing for their old homes from which they had been forcibly driven. All guides I spoke to had heard of these keys, but no one had ever seen one. Scholars total- ly reject this notion. The huge key is probably from some old castle.

Cordoban Jewry came to a virtual end with the persecutions of 1391, when they, along with Jews of Toledo and Seville, were massacred by Christian fanatics. Today, Cordoba has just a few Jewish residents and no functioning synagogue.

The Tourist Board of Cordoba, led by the energetic Rafael Perez de la Concha Camacho, has been instrumental in publicizing the glories of the Jewish past; it sponsors conferences, Sephardic music festivals and other events that accent the contributions of Jews to Spain.

Walking in Cordoba and seeing the sights is a delight. Revel in the beauty of the Mezquita, the huge (18,000 capacity) and artistically designed old mosque that has become a cathedral. Even if you wander through the alleys and meandering lanes you will never get lost, for a helpful Cordoban will assist you.

Be sure to attend the famous flamenco show at the Tablao Cardenal, right across from the Mezquita. Here you see the superb dancers and singers presenting classical flamenco. When we entered, the host immediately welcomed us with “Shalom! Berukhim ha-ba’im. Since I heard you are taking an interest in the Jewish past,” he said, “I thought I would greet you with a modern Jewish expression.”

I strongly recommend taking a side trip to Abd al Rahman’s Madinat al Zahara, about 20 minutes from Cordoba. This large archeological wonder, consisting of workmen’s buildings and Abd al Rahman’s palace, is a carefully excavated and beautifully preserved site. And remembering Hasdai ibn Shaprut’s close links to the Caliph makes the visit all the more memorable.

Curt Leviant’s most recent book is the comic novel “A Novel of Klass.” Erika Leviant contributes travel articles and articles about art to various periodicals.

i

40) Jewish history of Granada (article)

GRANADA (; also  or  ):

 

Table of Contents

• Under the Almohades.
• Jewish Scholars of Granada.

Capital of the Spanish province of the same name. It is said to have been inhabited by Jews from the earliest times; hence it was also called "Villa de Judios" (City of Jews), and, like Cordova, it was entrusted by the Arabian conquerors to the Jews for guardianship. Granada, which was chosen for the capital of the ancient kingdom of the same name (1013), instead of the neighboring Elvira, reached the height of its glory under the calif Ḥabus, who raised Samuel ibn Nagdela to the position of vizier or minister of state. As in all Mohammedan countries, the Jews lived in Granada in perfect freedom; and several of them—Joseph ibn Migash (who was sent on diplomatic missions), Isaac ben Leon, and Nehemiah Ashcafa, for example—occupied influential positions. Since the Jews of Granada were rich and powerful, they interfered at times in the dynastic quarrels. "Who did not see the splendor of the Jews in Granada, their good fortune, and their glory," says a Jewish chronicler, "never saw true glory; for they were great through wisdom and piety" ("Shebeṭ Yehudah," p. 3).

With the downfall and murder of Joseph ibn Nagdela, who had succeeded his father as vizier, an outbreak against the Jews occurred: their houses were plundered; and all of the Jews, except a few who escaped by flight, were killed. More than 1,500 Jewish families, numbering 4,000 persons, fell in one day, Ṭebet 9 (= Dec. 30), 1066. This was the first persecution of the Jews since the dominion of Islam in the Pyrenean peninsula. The Jews throughout the kingdom were forced to sell their houses and lands and to leave the country; but they soon returned.

Under the Almohades.

The Jews in Granada suffered severely, also, from the persecutions of the Almohades; and only on pretending to accept Islam were they allowed to remain in the city. In order to shake off the hard yoke and to overthrow the dominion of the fanatical Almohades the Jews formed a conspiracy with the Christians, who were likewise persecuted. On a certain day the revolutionists advanced with a considerable following before Granada, and the Jews of that place, under the leadership of a champion of freedom named Aben Ruiz aben Dahri, helped them to capture this important stronghold. Their joy was, however, of short duration: the Almohades reentered the city, and the Jews were severely punished. They were more successful a few years later. The brother of the emir Al-Ma'mun, Ya'ḳub al-Manṣur, advanced with an armed force, and, with the aid of the Jews, drove the Almohades out of Granada and back to Africa (1232).

The situation of the Jews in Granada, the only Spanish kingdom that remained independent under the califs for some centuries longer, took on its former aspect. Of their political status very little is known. In 1306 the calif Mohammed built his bath out of the income from Jews and Christians in Granada; and in 1312 his successor levied a new tax on their houses and baths. It is difficult to believe what the Arabian chroniclers state, that Isma'il Abu al-Walid ibn Abu-Zaid Faraj (1315-26) commanded the Jews to wear a badge distinguishing them from Mohammedans. In the great persecution of the Jews in 1391 many refugees found shelter and protection in Granada.

After a long struggle Granada was forced to succumb to Castilian power (Jan. 2, 1492). The Jews also had a part in the victory. According to a compact entered into Nov. 25, 1491, by the contending rulers, all Jews in the city and suburbs of Granada, as well as all living in other cities and towns in the kingdom, were allowed to depart like the Moors. Those Jews who had accepted Christianity were granted a month for withdrawal. It was in Granada, at the Alhambra, that Ferdinand and Isabella signed the edict (March 31, 1492) expelling the Jews from Spain.

Jewish Scholars of Granada.

Granada was for some time a seat of Jewish learning. Samuel ibn Nagdela, who himself had written grammatical, exegetical, and poetical works, and who, like his son, supported Jewish scholars, gathered about him a large circle of Jewish grammarians and poets. Granada was the birthplace of the synagogal poet Moses ben Ezra, of Judah ibn Tibbon, of Saadia ben Maimon ibn Danan, of Solomon ben Joseph ibn Ayyub, and of other famous authors. It was the home, too, of Isaac Hamon, of Abraham ben Isaac, author of a cabalistic work, and of the Gavison family.

38) ALHAMBRA & GENERALIFE

      ALHAMBRA (1354 - 1391) Summer palace and villa of the Nasrid rulers.

 View from the loo, only at the ALHAMBRA!

            

      ALHAMBRA & GENERALIFE

"Unique artistic creations, the Alhambra and the Generalife of Granada bear exceptional testimony to Muslim Spain of the 16th century. They form an exceptional example of royal Arab residences of the medieval period: neither destroyed nor changed by the alterations of radical restorations, the Alhambra and the Generalife appear to have escaped the vicissitudes of time. Despite the development that followed the Christian conquest, the Albayzín still bears witness to the medieval Moorish settlement, as its urban fabric, architecture and main characteristics (form, materials, colours), were not changed when it was adapted to the Christian way of life, to survive as a remarkable example of a Spanish-Moorish town."

whc.unesco.org

     I'm so glad I don't live here, think of all the cleaning! :-)

              

                GENERALIFE - "this area includes the lower gardens, the Palace of the Generalife and the upper gardens. It was constructed to be the recreation area of the Kings of Granada, where they escaped from the official routine."

(Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife)

             A very stony garden

    There's a fresh aroma of cypresses.

     Seeing the large garden beds, I experience great longing for my garden. I can't wait to work in it again. Tony is taking good care of it, keeping it watered, supplementing the automated sprinkler system. Alex's friend, Tari, is harvesting the produce, including spinach and tomatoes which she is using in her cooking.

        

        The Palace of the Generalife

"The Gardens of the Alhambra reflect the Muslim wish for Paradise, pictured as a garden, a place of delights and pleasures where personal fulfilment can be achieved. Therefore the Hispano-Arabic garden combines all the elements that can become a source of pleasure for the five senses: for the sight -the colour, the light and the shadows -, for the smell - the aromatic plants or the sweet scent of the flowers -, for the hearing - the murmur of the water -, for the touch -the different textures of the materials -, and for the taste -the flavour of the fruits."

(Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife)

Los jardines de la Alhambra reflejan el anhelo musulmán por alcanzar el Paraíso, imaginado como un jardín, un lugar de delicias y placeres donde lograr la completa satisfacción de los anhelos personales. Por ello, el jardín hispanoárabe conjuga todos los elementos que pueden proporcionar placer a los cinco sentidos: para la vista, el color, la luz y la sombra; para el olfato,las plantas aromáticas o el dulce perfume de las flores; para el oído, el murmullo del agua; para el tacto, las distintas texturas de los materiales, y para el gusto, el sabor de los frutos.

(Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife)

A delightful, funny fact about visiting the Alhambra 75 years ago found at: granadainfo.com

"Years ago, you could visit all the important things to see in Granada in just one day. 75 years ago, Margot Asquith, The Countess of Oxford noted the following in her travel book "Places and Persons": "What surprised me most, both in the Alhambra and Generalife was the absence of guides and tourists. We only saw a few people dotted about and we didn't hear anyone speak. This convinced me that Spain is the least visited of any other European country of equal beauty."

Alhambra Print by Heylan, XVII

Times change, nowadays, the Alhambra is reaching saturation point. Anyone who visits the Alhambra under their own steam will have to get up early, find the entrances, look for and pay for parking, wait patiently in the queues in full sun and only if they are lucky, get an entrance ticket on the same day. If not, they will have to stay overnight. In any case without a guide they will visit the Alhambra without seeing without understanding the most important things."