Valencia de Alcántara Synagogue
{{Short description|Historic former synagogue in Valencia de Alcántara, Spain}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox religious building
| building_name = Valencia de Alcántara Synagogue
| native_name = {{langx|es|Sinagoga de Valencia de Alcántara}}
| image = Valencia_de_Alcántara_Sinagoga_999.jpg
| image_upright = 1.4
| caption = View from outside, with the roof sloping off each of the four walls, in 2016
| location = Valencia de Alcántara, Cáceres, Extremadura
| country = Spain
| map_type = Spain Extremadura
| map_relief = 1
| map_size = 250
| map_caption = Location of the former synagogue in Extremadura
| geo = {{Coord|39.4145|-7.2414|region:ES_type:landmark|format=dms|display=it}}
| religious_affiliation = Judaism {{small|(former)}}
| ownership =
| rite = Nusach Sefard
| status = {{ubl|Synagogue {{small|(15th century)}}|Profane use {{small|(since 1492)}}}}
| functional_status = {{ubl|{{nowrap|Abandoned {{small|(as a synagogue)}};}}|Repurposed}}
| leadership =
| website =
| architect =
| architecture_type = Synagogue architecture
| architecture_style =
| groundbreaking =
| year_completed = 15th century
| consecration_year =
| construction_cost =
| capacity =
| length = {{cvt|10|m}}
| width = {{cvt|10|m}}
| width_nave =
| facade_direction =
| height_max =
| materials = Masonry
| module =
| footnotes =
}}
The Valencia de Alcántara Synagogue ({{langx|es|Sinagoga de Valencia de Alcántara}}) is a former Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Valencia de Alcántara, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain.
While no documentary evidence attests to the building being a synagogue, it was identified as such by academics Carmen Balesteros and Jorge Oliveira.{{cn|date=September 2024}} Evidence included it dating from the late 15th century when Jews settled near the Portuguese border due to increased persecution in Castile, and its architectural similarity to the Synagogue of Tomar in Portugal. After the expulsion of Jews in 1492, it was used for various purposes, mainly as a slaughterhouse for swine.
Location and design
The building is located in what was the Jewish quarter in the Middle Ages. The nineteen streets, of Gothic influences, have formed a Bien de Interés Cultural since 1997.{{cite web |title=La Judería de Valencia de Alcántara |date=20 November 2019 |trans-title=The Jewish quarter of Valencia de Alcántara |url=https://www.sfarad.es/la-juderia-de-valencia-de-alcantara/ |publisher=Sfarad.es |access-date=8 February 2022 |language=Spanish}}
The square-shaped structure measures approximately {{convert|10|by|10|m|spell=on}}, and is made of whitewashed plastered masonry. The roof disperses rain in four directions, forming a pyramidal structure The one entrance through the west side enters in to the main prayer room, where there are four granite columns with Doric bases and capitals. Linking the columns are four semi-circular arches, which support the beams and the roof.{{cite journal |last1=Bravo Escudero |first1=Berta M. |title=Restauración y rehabilitación de un edificio histórico olvidado: la sinagoga de Valencia de Alcántara (Cáceres) |journal=Norba: Revista de arte |date=2002 |issue=22 |pages=309–324 |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=1006641 |language=Spanish |issn=0213-2214}}{{rp|310}} The design is similar to the Synagogue of Tomar, a Portuguese structure of the same era.
According to historians Carmen Balesteros and Jorge Oliveira, the two doors which are no longer used due to new buildings, used to lead to a side hall and the women's prayer room. On the wall opposite the main entrance, there is a significant patch without plastering. According to the same academics, this is a tribute to the Destruction of the Second Temple by the Roman emperor Titus in 70 AD.{{rp|311}}
History of the structure
Evidence including metal remains and a 13th-century Portuguese coin indicate that the building was first used as a forge. Another Portuguese coin from the mid-15th century in the foundation of the columns indicates that it was around that time that the building was first used as a synagogue; the deteriorating political conditions for Jews in the Crown of Castile meant that a position on the border with Portugal was preferred in case of needing to flee. Its use was brief, as the Alhambra Decree was issued in 1492, expelling all Jews from the realm.{{rp|312}}
The former synagogue was deliberately burned in the 16th or 17th century. Evidence of animal bones indicates that it was then used as a slaughterhouse until the 20th century, when it was a garage, a tavern and a coal shed.{{rp|312}} Its time as a slaughterhouse would have been for the regional ham speciality, Jamón ibérico.
The identification of the structure as a synagogue by Balesteros and Oliveira was controversial in the field of Jewish medieval archaeology in the 1990s and early 2000s, as it was based entirely on material evidence, as no documentation attests that the building was used as such.{{cite book |last1=Numhauser |first1=Alexander Bar-Magen |title=Hispanojewish Archaeology (2 vols.): The Jews of Hispania in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages through Their Material Remains |date=25 May 2021 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-41992-6 |pages=37–38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sEswEAAAQBAJ&dq=valencia+alcantara+synagogue&pg=PA38 |access-date=9 February 2022 |via=Google Books }}
See also
{{Stack|{{portal|Judaism|Spain}}}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category-inline|Synagogue of Valencia de Alcántara}}
{{Synagogues in Spain}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valencia de Alcántara Synagogue}}
Category:15th-century synagogues in Spain
Category:Buildings and structures in the Province of Cáceres
Category:Buildings converted to Catholic church buildings
Category:Former synagogues in Spain