Subbetica

Jewish cemetery

Jewish cemetery

Cementerio medieval andalusí con 346 tumbas, recreaciones didácticas, accesible para personas con movilidad reducida, y único en su tipo en España.

In 2006, the construction of the southern ring road in Lucena brought to light a cemetery dating from the medieval Al-Andalus period. Some 346 graves were found, adapted to the topography of the land, in which the burial ritual used was inhumation, in single or double pits, sometimes with a niche or side chamber covered with slabs or Roman tiles. The skeletal remains, which were dated to the early medieval period between the years 1000 and 1050, coincided with the heyday of Jewish Lucena and provided significant insights into the way of life and funeral rituals of the Jewish community during this period. During this work, the only Jewish tombstone ever found in a funerary structure in Andalusia was also discovered, and the second to be found in Lucena. The tombstone bore Hebrew characters, and its chronology could be dated to between the 8th and 9th centuries based on the typeface, analysed by Dr Jordi Casanovas, a specialist in Semitic Philology, together with the municipal archaeologist Daniel Botella. The enhancement of the Jewish Necropolis has involved erecting a perimeter fence around the site, as well as installing various information panels on the Jewish community in Spain, Jewish Lucena and its Talmudic School, and the reburials carried out at the site. Four tombs have also been reconstructed to provide an educational insight into the four types of burials found in the cemetery. A fountain has been installed, given the need for water for the purification process required by the Sephardic community in such spaces, and a Wailing Wall has been recreated. The Jewish Necropolis of Lucena is the largest excavated necropolis on the Iberian Peninsula, and the first Jewish cemetery in Spain accessible to people with reduced mobility.   *Visit included in the ‘Perla de Sefarad’ tour; for further information, please call: 957 503662 / 605 867514 or email www.tuhistoria.org.

*Bookings must be made at least 24 hours in advance at Castillo del Moral, or by telephone on 957 503662 and 605867514 (WhatsApp), lucena@ciudadesmedias.org

Summer Saturdays: (15 June–15 September) (2 tours): 09:00 and 09:30 | Winter Saturdays: ( 16 September–14 June): (2 tours): 09:00 and 10:00

Sundays (1 session) 09:00 / Price: €3.50 / Public holidays: please call the number provided