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The Kingdom of Aragon, since its
origins, had a crossroads vocation for peoples and beliefs, rising
together in a constant coexistence mosques, churches, synagogues.
Its origins go back to the Islamic period, and in some cases like in
Saragossa, Huesca, Barbastro and Tarazona, to the Roman and
Visigothic periods, which gives it multisecular presence,
incremented with the remaining Jews who converted in 1492.
As far as demographics are concerned, around 10% of
the population was Jewish, reaching 10.000 persons at the end of the
15th century. In fact, the absence of persecutions (as were those of
1348 and 1391 in Castille, Valencia and Catalonia) and a climate of
social equilibrium, allowed Aragon to become one of the main centres
of Jewish Sepharad after the disappearance of the communities of
Seville, Barcelona or Valencia.
The Jewish community of the fifteenth century
activates a series of solidarity remedies, within the general
context of an ongoing crisis: increasing associationism and
solidarity through links of blood, democratization of power
structures, etc. Public and local powers understood the Jews has a
useful role in medieval society, concretized on the following
perspectives: economical-fiscal interest for the monarchy;
delegation of the protection reponsability of the Crown to local
powers; existence of a effective vertebration of economic agents
specialy in two levels: credit and productive sectorization; Jewish
presence in the capital market attended a wide sector of population
of poor classes with urgent necessities periodically indebted; this
minority was wealth generator in important sectors of economy like
textile and tanning industries, and his role in distribution
channels was also very important.
With these premises in mind, the Provincial
Government of Saragossa, by means of the Project “Space Sepharad-Aragon”,
is determined to achieve the following goals :
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To
recover and publicise the medieval Jewish legacy as example of
tolerance and key of cultural identity
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To
undertake the publication of a monography about the main aljamas (Jewish
Quarters) and the compilation of the original unpublished sources.
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The
edition of trilingual tourism guides of the different routes of
artistic-historic interest.
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Signalisation, protection and recuperation of the Jewish Quarters
and of the most significant elements (synagogues, mikves, cemeteries,
etc.).
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Creation
of Webpages and compilation of a database of the Aragonese Jewish
families and their genealogies.
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Undertaking of cultural activities related to the Sephardi world.
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Celebration of a major exhibition of the Jewish heritage and legacy
of Aragon, at the Sastago Palace in 2002.
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Integrated whole areas development plans that will allow the channel
international and local tourism.
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