History of the OPorto Jewish Community until the beginning of the 20th century

Introduction

Even today the Jewish mark is reflected on the city of Oporto. It is reflected on the collective spirit of the people of Oporto and on the material traces that have survived to the present day. However, they are not many. The prohibition of Judaism in Portugal, at the end of the 15th century, occurred at the same time as the destruction or the deletion of virtually everything connected to the Jewish people - synagogues, symbols, books, all sort of objects.

The history of the Jewish community in Oporto intertwines with the history of the city itself. Oporto has never been a stage of fights, massacres and pogroms addressed at the Jews and, instead, these have always coexisted harmoniously with the Christian majority in the squares, streets and alleys of a city with a strong mercantile and maritime profile, joining cultures, vocations, skills and ways of living.

Morro da Sé (Cathedral Mount), where the first Jewish Quarter of Oporto was located

Presence of Jews in Oporto date in 12th century

The earliest documentary references which have endured to the present are dated from the 12th century. There was a synagogue in the heart of the primitive city of Oporto, within Cerca Velha (Old Wall) or Muralha Primitiva (Primitive Wall) in Morro da Pena Ventosa (Pena Ventosa Hill) or Morro da Sé (Cathedral Hill). It was located in Rua da Sinagoga (Synagogue Street), former Rua das Aldas (Aldas Street) and current Rua de Sant'Ana (Saint Ana Street)-(Point 1 on the Map). At that time, to reside in the village, the Jews needed an authorisation issued by the Bishop of Porto.

Locations on the map Rua de Sant’Ana (Saint Ana Street)

Along with the city development also the Jewish community was spreading towards the Ribeira (Riverbank), in an area ranging from Travessa de S. Sebastião (St. Sebastian Lane) to Rua da Banharia (Sheath Workshop Street) and to Rua dos Mercadores (Merchants Street) – (point 2 on the Map)- (place where the Old Jewish Quarter was located) and from this one to Praça da Ribeira (Riverbank Square).

The Jewish Quarters of the city- Old Jewish Quarter

c

Rua da Bainharia(Sheath Workshop Street)

Rua dos Mercadores(Merchants Street)

Locations on the map

The richest and most socially influent inhabitants settled precisely in Praça da Ribeira (Riverbank Square)- (point 3 on the map)- and in the streets along the river, centre of an intense mercantile and social activity.

Importance of the Jews to the city's economy

c Ribeira (River Bank)

Working and living side by side with Catholics, and there is no news of tension for religious matters, the Jews developed their business, in particular in the fields of trade and crafts.

Locations on the map

There are records of the existence of another synagogue, located in Rua da Munhata (Munhata Street), or Minhota (native from Minho), current Rua do Comério do Porto (Oporto Commerce Street)-(point 4 on the map). It was a domestic house of prayer, which operated at a Jewish sailor’s shop. Everything indicates that the so-called Judiaria de Baixo (the Lower Jewish Quarter) would be located in the area, extended from Largo de S. Domingos to Miragaia.

The Jewish Quarters of the city - Lower Jewish Quarter

c Locations on the map

Rua do Comércio do Porto-

(Commerce Street)

Meanwhile, Cabido do Porto (Oporto Chapter) prepared the lease of lands for the construction of what would be called the Jewish Quarter of Monchique, where there is still today, some toponymy associated with the Jewish people, namely: Rua, Escadas or Pátio Monte dos Judeus (Street, Steps or Hill of the Jews Square), in the current area of the Bandeirinha (Little Flag) - (Point 11 on the map).In this Jewish Quarter was the synagogue, a house of prayer, of study and of assembly. It was its most important institution.

The Jewish Quarters of the city – Jewish Quarter of Monchique

c

Morro de Monchique ou Monte dos Judeus

(Hill of the Jews Square) Locations on the map

The existence of this synagogue is witnessed in a granitic epigraph, which has survived until our days and whose inscription can be translated as follows:

The Jewish Quarters of the city – Jewish Quarter of Monchique

c

«1. Someone might say: why was such house of repute not guarded inside a wall? 2. But he well knows I have an acquaintance who is recognized by the gentlehood. 3. It is he who guards me, as he declares with no doubt whatsoever: I am a wall. 4. The greatest among the Jews, the strongest of the heroes, and as leaders stand up there he stands. 5. Benefactor of his people, the servant of God in his integrity, he has built a house to his name in carved stones. 6. For the King he is second, at the head he is controlled by its grandeur and in the presence of Kings he rises. 7. He is Rabbi Don Yehudah ben Maner, light of Judah and in charge of authority. 8. By order of the Rabbi, he, Don Joseph ibn Arieh, shall live in charge and as leader to the task».

Locations on the map

Rather near the referred Monchique synagogue there might have existed a Jewish cemetery, probably located in the terraces of the Municipal Garden of the Horto das Virtudes (Virtues Garden Centre)- (Point 7 on the map). The existence of a watercourse, the Rio Frio (Cold River), which passes through the Garden Centre, supplying the Fonte das Virtudes (Virtues Fountain), then flowing into the River Douro, may have been a logistical support for Jewish funerals, due to the religious obligation to wash the bodies of the deceased before the burial, a purifying ritual that, in the Hebrew language, is called Tahara.

Jewish cemetery

c

Jardim Municipal do Horto das Virtudes(Virtues Garden Centre)

Locations on the map

The Jewish Quarters of the city– Jewish Quarter of Olival

At the end of the 14th century, the most famous Jewish Quarter of Oporto was created: the Jewish Quarter of Olival, with approximately 1.8 hectares.It is King D. João I who, in 1386, during his stay in the city, determines the concentration of all Jews in one place of the city, ordering the Municipal Chamber to indicate the Jews a place, within the walls, where they could build their Jewish Quarter. Although the King had the intention of protecting «his Jews» - as he called them - from possible attacks resulting from the wars with the Kingdom of Castile, the action takes place in a European context associated to the creation of ghettos for the Jewish people.

Morro da Vitória(Victory Mount)

c Locations on the map

The Jewish Quarters of the city– Jewish Quarter of Olival

The Municipal Chamber delivered, through leasing, the Campo do Olival (Olive Field) to the then existing Jewish community of Oporto and soon began the building of the New Jewish Quarter, a walled area, from where the Jews could not leave, nor the Christians enter at night (to the ring of the "bell to run"). The Jewish settlement boundaries were demarcated by high walls, houses with no way out to the exterior of the Jewish Quarter and by two massive iron doors adorned with Hebrew allegories, one by the Porta do Olival (Olive Field Entrance) (to the North) and another in the current Escadas da Vitória (Steps of Victory)- (point 6 on the map)-, designated, in the past, by Escadas da Esnoga (the Steps of the Synagogue) (to the South).

Rua da Vitória(Victory Street) Rua e Escadas da Vitória (Antigas

Escadas da Esnoga – Sinagoga)(Synagogue/ Victory steps)

c Locations on the map

The Edict of ExpulsionOn December 5 1496, The Edict of Expulsion of the Jews from Portugal was signed by King D. Manuel I.D. Manuel’s edict did not have the same effects on Oporto as it had on other latitudes. There was no global stampede, nor was violence exerted on the Jews, and these, in general, by force of circumstances, accepted their conversion to Christianity, although secretly maintained their faith in the God of Israel. Crypto-Judaism, as old as the Jewish people, had returned in force. The Jews from Oporto (now new-Christians) abandoned the Jewish Quarter and started living in other parts of the city, mainly in the area of Ribeira. All the area which formed the Jewish Quarter of Olival started being designated, until these days, as Vitória (Victory), a possible allusion to the victory of Christianity over Judaism.

Plaque in memory of the Jewish victims of the Decree of 1496, posted in Rua de São Bento da Vitória wall in

Oporto (Point 9 on the map).c Locations on the map

The Tribunal of the Inquisition

In 1536, the Court of the Holy Office or Inquisition was implemented in Portugal: an ecclesiastical court designed to prosecute crimes against faith, putting an end to heresy and apostasies. One might expect that Oporto, in which Jewish and philo-Semitic culture is so ingrained, would be fustigated by inquisitorial processes. That did not happen. The action of the court was limited. In Oporto, the Court of the Inquisition was active between 1542 and 1544, and during this period there were two autos-de-fé (public penance ceremonies), one on February 11 1543 and another on April 27 1544, by the Porta do Olival- (point 10 on the map)-, where about 100 new Christians were punished for maintaining Jewish practices and sinning against the faith. The number of crypto-Jews at that time was certainly much higher.

Article , in the newspaper HA-LAPID, about the auto-de-fé in Oporto in 1543.c Locations on the map

The Tribunal of the InquisitionIn 2005 a Ehal (Ark where the Torah is kept) was discovered behind a fake wall in a house located in no. 9 Rua de São Miguel (São Miguel Street)- (point 8 on the map)- in Oporto and the most plausible thesis is that there was a secret synagogue in this house. The granitic ark (placed on the east wall of the house) was dated from the late 16th century and the early 17th century.In 1618, an inquisitorial visitation led to the detention of a hundred and fifty new Christians of great social relevance. Once the "businessmen" of the city were smashed, then there was a large migratory wave of new Christians, who said goodbye to their ancestors’ land, taking homesickness to the four corners of the world. The moment was striking. Although many had been diluted among the population, a wall of silence fell heavily on the Jews from Oporto. Only three hundred years later would they reappear…

Ehal (Ark) where the crypto-jews kept the Torah scrolls (Sifrei Torah), at no. 9 St. Miguel Streetc Locations on the map

Legend of the Map• Long route - 2 km – From the Terreiro da Sé (Cathedral) to Campo Mártires da Pátria (Country Martyrs Field) A chronological route, which permits

a greater understanding of the city of Oporto and its evolution, linked to the history of Oporto Jews. • Short route – 1.5 km – From Campo Mártires da Pátria (Country Martyrs Field) to the River Bank. A sloping route from which it is possible to

view the principle points of interest relating to the history of Jews in Oporto. • POINTS OF INTEREST• 1 – Rua de Sant‘Ana (Sant'ana Street)• In the heart of the old Jewish Quarter. It was the location of the first synagogue, for which there are documented records.• 2 – Rua dos Mercadores (Merchants Street) • Jews began to live and trade beyond the limits of the Old Jewish Quarter. • 3 – Praça da Ribeira (River Bank Square) • The business centre for more affluent Jews. • 4 – Rua do Comércio do Porto (Oporto Commerce Street) • The location of the second synagogue for which records exist. • 5 – Largo dos Lóios (Lóios Square) • Jewish commerce shops and stalls existed in this area. • 6 – Rua/Escadas da Vítória (Victory Street/steps) • Location where it is thought that the Synagogue of the Jewish Quarter of Olival (Olive Grove) stood. • 7 – Passeio das Virtudes (Path of Virtues) • With a view over the “Jewish Mount” where the Monchique synagogue once stood, and over the Garden of Virtues, where there was once a

Jewish cemetery. • 8 – Rua de S. Miguel (St. Miguel Street) • Situated in the heart of the old Jewish Quarter of Olival (Olive Grove). At no. 9 of this street, there was a synagogue, that functioned in secret after

the Expulsion Edict. • 9 – Rua de S. Bento da Vitória (Victory Street) • Plaque memorializing the Edict of Expulsion of the Jews (and indeed of Judaism) from Portugal. • 10 – Campo Mártires da Pátria (Country Martyrs Field)• Former Olive Grove. Two Auto-de-Fé took place here during the Inquisition. • 11 – Bandeirinha (Little Flag) • Street, steps and court yard of the Jewish Mount of the old Jewish Quarter of Monchique. • 12 - Kadoorie Mekor Haim Synagogue • Center of the Jewish Community of Oporto. Located at 340, Guerra Junqueiro Street (600 meters from Casa da Música)

Bibliography

ISRAELI COMMUNITY OF OPORT - The Oport and the Jews (Screenplay).MEA, Elvira - Jewish Route Oport, Oporto City Hall, 2003.