Sunday, November 3, 2019 Ubeda
As we proceeded on our evening tour of Ubeda, our walk eventually took us to the corner where a Jewish synagogue from the 1300s has been restored after its
discovery during renovations for apartments about 15 years ago.
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| Unassuming old town street where the original hair dresser shop was located |
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| During renovations to turn this area into tourist apartments, evidence of a Jewish synagogue was found |
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| After 15 years of restoration, the Synagoga del Aqua is open for visitors |
The Sinagoga del Agua (Synagogue of Water) of Úbeda was discovered by chance during a real estate project to transform what was previously a ladies’ hair salon location into what would be tourist apartments for the city. But, during the excavations, the walls of the old house were found to have various elements of a synagogue from the 13th century - such as the arches and a capital of the synagogue, the women’s gallery and the ritual bath (mikveh).
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| Our tour guide, Andrea, also serves as the Director of the Synagogue del Aqua |
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| Original arches and walls have been excavated |
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| This capital is typical of Jewish decoration and serves as the graphic symbol of the synagogue |
More recently, according to Andrea, in excavating the mikveh they discovered
an alignment of the bath with a high window in the building’s wall. During the summer solstice, the sun shines directly into the mikveh and lights up the bathing chamber. This surprising detail and the age of the rocks comprising the mikveh has suggested Neolithic origins to the site, even before its long history as a synagogue.
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| Ritual mikveh in the lowest level of the excavation |
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| Sunlight streams in the window at the summer solstice and lights up the chamber (Internet photo from website) |
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