jewish quarter

i connected with some of my he medieval jewish quarter inside el barri gotico. the area was founded in the 12th century and therein now resides spain´s most ancient synagogue. while most of the buildings have succombed to modernization, the streets remain as they were 9 centuries ago. the gothic surroundings were very amenable to these mental conjurings, particularly as here was a little traveled tourist destination, thus leaving me mostly alone wih my thoughts.

the saga of barcelona's jewish community came to its culminating moment in august 1391 when, during a time of famine and pestilence, a nationwide outbreak of anti-semitic violence reached catalunya with catastrophic results: nearly the entire jewish population was murdered or forced to convert to christianity. and this, a full 101 years before they were expelled from the rest of spain, in 1492, by the reyes católicos, isabel and fernando. no wonder they felt the need to congregate in a ghetto of sorts.

next on the list was the old town´s 13th century gothic cathedral de santa eulalia, co-patron saint of barcelona. eulalia was a young virgin who suffered martyrdom during roman times in barcelona. it is said the romans exposed her naked in the public square but a miraculous snow fall in mid spring covered her nudity. the enraged romans threw her into a barrel with knives stuck into it and rolled it down a street. her body is entombed in the cathedral's crypt.

as the cathedral is currently undergoing a faclift, the entire front facade was hidden behind scaffolds and large scale prints representing the future finished product. the view from its towers was beautiful and a funky gothic cloister is home to a flock of 13 regal white geese (eulalia was 13 when murdered).

in the evening, i met julia around the parallel area to check out a concert where her trumpet teacher was performing with the opening band. the apolo theatre is a fairly good sized venue deckedout in the grooviest chandeliers and it was just about filled to capacity. the opening band was tight but lacked in a certain ¨ooumff¨. the headline band wasn´t much better so i cut out in time to catch the metro part way home. the last half was a nicely chilled late night stroll in a barcelona that is rarely so quiet.