Granada, Spain
Granada, the capital city of
the Province with the same name, is located at the foot of the Sierra
Nevada mountain range in Andalusia (Southern Spain) at the confluence
of the Darro and Genil Rivers. The city is divided by the Darro,
which runs underground through the center of the city. On the right
lies, Albaic“n, the city's oldest quarter; on the left rises the
imposing Alhambra. Granada lies 426 km south of Madrid and 126km
northeast of Malaga and has an average temperature of 60 degrees F.
The population is approximately 260,000 people with a very small
Jewish presence.
The picturesque city of Granada rests in a fertile
plain that was settled as early as the 5th century B.C.E. The Romans (200 BCE - 400 C.E.) called the area Iliberias. The Visigoths
(400-700) established the city, but it was the Moors (711) who
developed the region and gave the city its name. Some scholars
theorize that Granada means "pomegranate." The Berbers
(1013), whose origins would later be ascribed to Goliath the
Philistine, left the greatest mark upon the city. For the next two
centuries, a series of Berber dynasties - the Almoravides and the
Almohades - ruled the city. After the capture of Córdoba by the
Christian armies in 1236, Granada increased in importance, reaching
its brilliant zenith under the rule of the Moorish Nasrites, who were
tolerated by the Castilian kings. The famed Alhambra (The Red)
fortress was built at this time. Granada was the only surviving
bastion of Islam in Spain until Ferdinand and Isabelle conquered it
in 1491.
Legend has it that some of the Jews who were
exiled by Nebuchadnezzar (586 BCE) settled in Granada. Even the Moors
recognized this ancient tradition by referring to the city as
"Granada of the Jews." But the earliest extant evidence of
a Jewish presence in Granada is a reference to Jews helping man the
garrison, built after the city's conquest by the Moors in 711. Like
all Jewish communities in Spain, Jewish Granada prospered under the
Ummayad caliphate (755-1013). But when Cordoba was sacked by the
Berbers in 1013, and Moslem Spain broke up into a number of petty
kingdoms, Granada began to grow in importance. At the center of this
ascendancy stood Samuel
Ha'Nagid, a Jewish refugee from Cordoba. After living for a brief
time in Malaga, Samuel was
invited to become the secretary to the King's vizier in Granada. It
wasn't long until his exceptional abilities were recognized by the
King and he was promoted to a position of respect and authority. In a
struggle for succession to the throne (1038), Samuel backed the
winner, and was ultimately rewarded with the title of chief minister.
With each sparkling achievement of their dynamic leader, the Jewish
community grew in stature. Under his guidance, Granada became an
important center of Jewish learning and culture.
Unfortunately, upon Samuel's death (1055), the
Jewish community of Granada began a steep decline which reached a
horrible climax in 1066. Leading the community was Samuel's son,
Joseph, who lacked his father's humility. Though well educated and
groomed, he was ostentatious and arrogant. He soon alienated the
ruling Berbers as well as the Arab masses. On a Shabbat in 1066,
Joseph's palace was stormed and he was murdered, crucified on a
cross. The entire Jewish community came under the riotous siege
(December 30th) resulting in 4,000 deaths and the destruction of most
property. Incredibly, the community quickly recovered, only to fall
again, this time at the hands of the Almoravids in 1090. Later, under
the rule of the Almohads regime (1148-1212), only Jews who had
converted to Christianity were allowed to live in the city. Jews
returned to the city when Granada was ruled by the Naserite dynasty
(1232-1492). On March 31, 1492, the saga of the Jews of Granada came
to a crushing conclusion, when Ferdinand and Isabelle signed the edict
of expulsion in the "City of the Jews."
The Juderia in Granada was never located in one
specific spot during Moslem rule. Instead, it was moved, expanded, or
contracted depending on the dictates of the various dynasties
Sources: This material was originally published in
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