Medieval Synagogue in Hijar, Spain
Introduction
In the medieval period, there was a significant Jewish community in Hijar in Aragon and this included an early Hebrew printing press.
With the expulsion of the Jewish community in 1492, the main synagogue in the former Jewish quarter of Hijar was taken over by the Church becoming the Church of San Anton de Hijar. In recent years, there has been growing interest in the Sephardic heritage in Aragon and the Government of Aragon has been developing a strategy aiming to recover the heritage of around 30 former Jewish quarters in the region.
As a result, attention is once again being paid to the former synagogue building in Hijar which represents the only example of a medieval synagogue still extant in Aragon.
The Challenge
Because the building was not the main Church in Hijar, it was only used for services once a year and, as a result, it was not well maintained. A partial collapse of the roof accelerated its deterioration.
Subsequent works were carried out to stabilise and investigate the site, which revealed various elements belonging to the synagogue from the 15th century, including unique wall murals. These findings constitute extraordinary material testimony of the Spanish synagogues that existed in that period. As a result, the building has been formally recognised as a Site of Cultural Importance (Bien de Interés Cultural).
How to preserve and present the site is the current challenge.
The Plan
The Mayor of Hijar is leading a project to develop the synagogue site and, as part of this effort, the Municipality has taken ownership of the building.
The aim is to explore creating a Heritage Centre that can serve as an educational, cultural and tourist hub for the emerging programme on the Sephardic heritage of the Aragon region. The Hijar Municipality commissioned the Foundation to prepare a Masterplan which it carried out with local leader Lucia Conte Aguilar. This provided a roadmap for the future development of the project. The next stage is to conduct a more detailed Feasibility Study.
In 2022, the site was shortlisted in the Europa Nostra ‘7 Most Endangered Heritage Sites of Europe’ programme.