Archaeologists discover a rare 14th-century Spanish synagogue

MADRID (AP) — Archaeologists in the southern Spanish city of Utrera confirmed on Tuesday they had uncovered a 14th-century synagogue hidden in a building that was later converted into a church, hospital and most recently a bar.

Archaeologist Miguel Ángel de Dios told journalists that “the first thing that needs to be confirmed is the presence of the prayer room” after years of analyzing the building’s walls and floor.

“The basic elements of the synagogue, like the entrance hall,” he said, “or the surrounding pews, which have emerged from this investigation, now confirm that we are indeed in the prayer hall.”

The only reference to the existence of the Jewish Temple came from a priest and historian, Rodrigo Caro, who wrote in 1604 that a hospital now stood on a site where Jews used to pray. A tiny handful of medieval synagogues exist in Spain, including in the cities of Toledo and Cordoba.

Utrera’s synagogue was converted into a church in the 16th century, de Dios added, when all traces of its Jewish past were erased. His team now hopes to identify the pulpit and a bath used for rituals.

“We now have the scientific certainty that we are standing in a medieval synagogue,” said the mayor of Utrera, José María Villalobos. “Nevertheless, the partially preserved condition of the synagogue is exceptional,” he added.

Attracting tourists interested in Spain’s Jewish past has become a key destination for cities steeped in history in recent years.

In 1492, Spain’s Catholic monarchs, Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, decreed that Spain’s 200,000 Jews be converted to Christianity or expelled.

Spain has been trying to make amends for what the government called this “historic mistake” in recent years. In 2015, the Spanish government allowed the descendants of exiled Sephardic Jews to apply for Spanish citizenship, with 132,226 people doing so.

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