Barcelona Jewish & Gothic Quarters Tour - 4 hours
Enjoy a private tour of Barcelona’s Old Town
Led by a Jewish guide who speaks English and Hebrew
Duration
The tour takes 4 hours. An extra half an hour is included free of charge if more time is required (for lunch or for getting from your hotel to the starting location).
Description
If in addition to the history of the Jews of Spain and the Spanish Inquisition, you’d like to learn the history of Barcelona and visit the oldest and the most historic parts of Barcelona, then this tour will be perfect for you. It covers the Jewish and Gothic Quarters. The Old Town of Barcelona is easy to walk around, the roads are flat, and all sites are within a few minutes’ walking distance from each other.
Who is this tour for?
The tour will be perfect for you if:
- You are interested in the history of the Sephardic Jews and that of the Jewish community of Barcelona.
- You are interested in the history of the Spanish Inquisition.
- You came with kids, and you would like to educate them on Jewish history.
- You’d like to have a good feeling of directions so you can navigate the city on your own after the tour.
- You’d like to have more photos created during the tour. As professional photography can be included as an extra option, you can think of it as a mix of a tour and a photo session. I’d love to create photos of you to help you keep a good memory.
Meeting location
I can meet you at your hotel or a place that is convenient for you, provided it is in the center of Barcelona.
By the end of the tour, I can take you to your hotel or a place you’d like to go next.
Transportation
It is a walking tour. All sites are within a few minutes of a walking distance from each other.
All roads in the Jewish and Gothic Quarters are flat and easy to walk around.
Itinerary
During the tour, we will visit / see:
- The Jewish Quarter
- The Gothic Quarter
- The Synagogue Mayor – one of the oldest Synagogues in Europe, also known as “The Rashba Synagogue”, as Shlomo ben Aderet (Rashba, 1235-1310) served there as Rabbi for 50 years.
- The place where a dispute between Rabbi Ramban and Pablo Christiani (a Dominican Friar, a convert from Judaism to Christianity) took place in 1263. We’ll learn the history of the dispute.
- The Spanish Inquisition headquarters and the Shield of the Spanish Inquisition. We’ll learn the history of the Spanish Inquisition, from 1478 to current date.
- Ancient mikvah
- Magen Davids incorporated into the decoration of the exterior wall of the Cathedral of Barcelona (we will not go inside the Cathedral).
- The building where the Archive of the Crown of Aragon (one of the historical archives) is located;
- Gravestones from the Jewish cemetery that used to be located on Montjuic (The Jewish Mountain) and the way they were used as building materials after the Jewish Quarter of Barcelona was destroyed in 1391.
- Remainings of the Roman walls and the Roman settlement Barcino which existed from the 1st century BC.
- The columns of the Roman Temple of Augustus.
- Casa Adret (from outside) – one of the oldest inhabited houses in Barcelona
- La Boqueria market
- La Rambla street, one of the main touristic street of Barcelona
- Either El Born district, a part of the Old Town, or if you’d like to have a taste of a modern part of Barcelona then we can see one of the most emblematic sites, “The Block of Discord”. It is a block of buildings designed by four of Barcelona’s most important modernist architects, including Casa Batllo designed by Antoni Gaudí, the most famous Catalan architect. We can also see (from outside) another building designed by Gaudi, called Casa Mila (aka “La Pedrera”) located 10 min away from Casa Batllo.
What is included
- a private walking guided tour of the Old Town (the Jewish and the Gothic Quarters) of Barcelona
- 4 hours of the guide’s service
What is not included
- taxi if you’d like to get from your hotel to the Jewish Quarter by taxi
- entrance fee to the Synagogue Mayor, 5 euros per person