Sefarad Route - The Jewish Spain

For many centuries and until 1492, the Iberian Peninsula was a mosaic, a melting pot of people, culture and religions. The Jewish communities developed their own culture, practised their traditions and their religion and lived their social life in close contact with Christian and Arab communities. The Sefarad route offers a journey to the cities with a rich inheritance and the most important Jewish quarters.

Back to Spain Menu

1st day: MADRID
Arrival at Madrid Barajas airport. Welcome of the group and transfer to the hotel. Free time. In the evening all guests are invited to a Welcome cocktail where there will be a presentation of the tour and a meeting with the group leader. All participants will receive a welcome pack with detailed information about the programme. Dinner will be served in the hotel. In the evening, an optional walk downtown. Accommodation

2nd Day: MADRID-SEGOVIA (109 km)
Breakfast. Guided sightseeing tour by bus, stopping at the most interesting places in the district called “Madrid de los Austrias”: Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol, Paseo del Prado (Prado Museum, Thyssen Museum and Queen Sofía Museum), Gran Vía and Plaza de España, and ending at the Royal Palace, the official Royal residence of the Borbon family until 1931. Departure for Segovia. Before starting the visit we will have lunch in a restaurant. We walk through the Jewish Quarter, one of the most important in the former Kingdom of Castile and whose greatest time was under the reign of the Catholic Monarchs. This well preserved quarter is located between the Cathedral and the Medieval Walls. Our visit will start in the Corpus Square, where the old Synagogue was located (nowadays, the Corpus Christi Church) and will finish in the Plaza Mayor. We descend the steep street to the Puerta del Sol and finally to the Caño Square. Transfer to the hotel. Dinner and accommodation.

3rd Day: SEGOVIA-HERVÁS-PLASENCIA- CÁCERES (318 kms)
Breakfast and departure for Hervás. Here we start the visit at the Jewish Quarter, whose atmosphere takes us back to ancient times; we will stop at Rabilero and the Synagogue streets, the most significant points of the tour. Lunch and free time before leaving for Plasencia. Arrival. Walk through the Juderia and we continue along the Rua Zapateria and the Vargas alley. The Church of Santa Isabel was a former Synagogue. The Jewish cemetery existing between the Berrozanas Archway and the road to Salamanca was sold to the Dean of Plasencia and belongs now to the city. We walk on to the Plaza Mayor to find some noble houses in renaissance style, dated between the 14th and 16th century.
We head towards Caceres and transfer to the hotel. Dinner and accommodation.

4th Day: CACERES
Breakfast. Caceres: a World Heritage City and the third most important monumental ensemble in Europe. Arrival. Located in the oldest part of the town, the old Jewish quarter is made unique by its irregular, winding streets, combining wide roads and steep slopes with 220 little squares and hidden corners. The first visit will be at the former Synagogue, located in the San Antonio Church. We continue the tour through the Estrella Archway and walk to Santa Maria Square to find the Concatedral, the Episcopal Palace, the Carvajal Palace and the Golfines de Abajo Palace, an occasional residence of the Catholic Kings, juxtaposing the Gothic, Mudejar and Plateresque style.
We walk on to the Casa de las Cigüenas, the Casa de las Veletas, now the Provincial Museum of Archaeology, the Casa del Comendador de Alcuescar, which at present is a Hotel-Parador and the Golfines de Arriba Palace: all of them representing a mixture of Romanesque, Islamic, Northern Gothic and Italian Renaissance architecture. Back to the Estrella Archway. The visit will end at the New Jewish Quarter, the area where the Jewish Community settled after their expulsion by the Catholic Kings. The Synagogue was located in the Marques de la Isla Palace, which is now a public building. Lunch in a restaurant and free time in the afternoon. Return to the hotel for dinner and accommodation.

5th Day: CÁCERES-SEVILLE-CORDOVA(318 km)
Breakfast and departure for Seville, the capital of Andalusia. Arrival and lunch in a restaurant. We start the visit at the Barrio Santa Cruz, part of the old Jewish Quarter and one of the most picturesque sites with its narrow streets and little plazas. We reach the Patio de las Banderas, and walk along the Callejon del Agua, next to the city walls. We arrive at the Plaza de Santa Cruz, where a synagogue existed until 1810. The Church of Santa Maria la Blanca was also built on the remains of another Synagogue and the Jewish cemetery was located right at the entrance of the Juderia. Before continuing the journey to Cordova we can choose to visit the Reales Alcazares, the Royal Residence, or have some free time for shopping in town. Departure for Cordova. Transfer to the hotel, dinner and accommodation.

6th Day: CORDOVA-TOLEDO
Breakfast. We start the visit at the Jewish Quarter, located between the Almodóvar Gate and the Caliphas Fortress. During the reign of Fernando III, a law was enforced in order to give Christians, Jewish and Muslims the same rights. At that time, these three religions and cultures coexisted in Cordova. The King also approved the construction of a second Synagogue, in spite of the Christian opposition. From the Almodóvar Gateway, in front of the Aljama, we walk through Fernández Ruano Street where the former Jewish Market was located, to the Ropería Street, the Curtiduría Street, and the Alcaicería Street and to the Platerías Street. We arrive at the well-preserved Synagogue built in a Mudejar style whose entrance is through a beautiful courtyard.
We will end the visit at the Mosque-Cathedral, one of the largest Islamic temples in the world and whose construction started under Abderramán I. The Cathedral was then built inside the Mosque in the 15th century.
It is also worth visiting the Jewish Cemetery, located behind the city walls, in an area called the Huerta del Rey Lunch. Departure for Toledo. A short stop at the pass of Despeñaperros, the borderline between Castile and Andalusia, leaving behind us this region with its typical olive trees to enter the plain Meseta de Castilla. Arrival at the hotel in Toledo, dinner and accommodation.

7th Day: TOLEDO
Breakfast. Visit to the most important Spanish Jewish city and the capital of Sefarad. Due to its expansion, the Jewish Quarter had to be divided into several areas: Degolladero, Santo Tomé and Barrio Nuevo. Our tour will start by passing through the Cambrón Gateway, formerly known as the Jewish Gate. Walking through the narrow streets of this district we arrive at the Mudejar Sinagoga of Santa María la Blanca, dated 13th century. The next other important synagogue, the Sinagoga del Tránsito, was built in the 14th century and its decoration has influences of the Islamic, Mudejar and Gothic art. It also contains magnificent Jewish scripts of the Middle Age. Today it houses an interesting Sephardim Museum. Lunch and free time for optional visits: the house of El Greco, the Gothic Cathedral or the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes in an Elisabethan style. Transfer to the hotel, dinner and accommodation.

8th Day: TOLEDO-MADRID AIRPORT
Breakfast and transfer to the airport. End of the journey.