Set in the northern reaches of Andalusia and within easy reach of Granada and Córdoba, Jaén introduces itself through two unmistakable emblems: its renowned olive-oil culture, which defines both its landscape and identity, and the soaring Renaissance cathedral that presides over the city center. Within this historic core lies the Barrio de Santa Cruz, the medieval Jewish Quarter, a compact network of steep lanes and intimate passages that still preserves the outline of Jaén’s enduring Sephardic past.
Since 2005, Jaén has been an active member of Spain’s Jewish Heritage Network, also known as the Red de Juderías or Caminos de Sefarad, which ensures that its routes, interpretation panels and cultural programming are shaped with cultural travelers in mind.
The Jewish presence in Jaén is among the earliest recorded in the Iberian Peninsula. Sources trace the first community to the year 612 under the Visigoths. With the arrival of al Andalus, the neighborhood grew and by the ninth century included a synagogue, a yeshiva and ritual baths.
The period also produced one of the most significant figures of Jewish and Andalusi intellectual history, Hasday ibn Shaprut, born in Jaén around 915. He received his education in Córdoba and became a statesman of extraordinary versatility. Fluent in Hebrew, Arabic, Latin and the early Romance language, he advised Caliph Abd al Rahman the Third, promoted translations that shaped medical science across the Mediterranean, corresponded with Christian courts and the Byzantine Empire and was linked by tradition to the celebrated treatment of Sancho the First of León.
Within the Jewish community he served as a nasí, a lay leader of broad authority, and acted as a patron to poets and scholars. Through him, Jaén’s Sephardic inheritance becomes more than architectural remains. It becomes a story of intellectual ambition that once placed the city at the center of medieval Iberia.
After the Christian conquest of 1246, the aljama recovered its vitality. Yet its stability did not last. The pogroms of 1391 marked the beginning of its decline, and the establishment of one of Spain’s earliest tribunals of the Inquisition in 1483 accelerated the pressures that would culminate in the expulsion of 1492. Today, the streets of the quarter, such as Calle Maestra, Calle del Rostro and the narrow Callejón del Gato, still trace that long and layered history. The path leads naturally to the Menorah of the Diaspora in Plaza Doctor Blanco Nájera, a memorial space that stands beside the archaeological remains of the Puerta de Baeza, once the main entrance to the medieval Jewish neighborhood.
The Jewish Quarter Today
A walk through the quarter tells the story in fragments. Beginning at Plaza de Santa María beside the cathedral, visitors can slip into the network of lanes that climb toward the upper quarter. Calle Maestra, Calle del Rostro and the Callejón del Gato preserve the intimacy of a medieval streetscape. The Menorah of the Diaspora, now a symbolic landmark, anchors the square where the Puerta de Baeza’s archaeological remains remind travelers of the former boundary of the Jewish neighborhood.
Two historic bath complexes reveal how daily life in medieval Jaén blended across religious groups. The Arab Baths beneath the Palacio de Villardompardo, among the largest and best preserved in Europe, served Jews and Christians on alternating days. Their vaulted rooms and filtered light connect visitors to a shared urban rhythm that predates the divisions imposed centuries later.
Memory Made Contemporary
This year marks two decades of Jaén’s participation in the Red de Juderías. The city celebrated the European Days of Jewish Culture with a theme centered on the People of the Book. The program combined guided routes, music and a culinary component that gave medieval recipes a modern reading. Chefs at the Parador de Jaén and Bomborombillos revisited dishes such as almodrote, made with eggplant, olive oil and cheese, and saffron-infused fish that evoke the tastes of Sephardic kitchens.
The cultural focus was literary. At the Baños del Naranjo, local author José Manuel Martos presented his novel El verdadero nombre de Dios, a thriller that begins beneath the old synagogue site located under the church of San Andrés. From that starting point, the plot widens into an international narrative involving a Mossad agent, an archaeologist and a police inspector. The novel, which has reached top positions in several Spanish bestseller categories, includes a foreword by Mar Moreno, recipient of Andalusia’s 2023 Critic’s Prize. More importantly, it uses Jaén’s Sephardic geography not as a still backdrop, but as a living archive where unresolved questions continue to resonate.
A Smaller Quarter With a Sharper Sense of Place
Unlike Spain’s more famous Jewish quarters in Córdoba or Toledo, Jaén offers a smaller scale with remarkable clarity. Its urban outline remains legible. Its historical timeline is unusually well documented, reaching back to the early seventh century. As a member of the Jewish Heritage Network, Jaén ensures accessible routes, cultural programming and interpretation materials. And its recent literary turn demonstrates how contemporary storytelling can revitalize interest in a city whose historical texture rewards patient exploration.
