A route around Palma’s Jewish quarter.
Palma was a major medieval city. As such, it had its own Jewish quarter. In fact, Palma’s Jewish quarter, known as “Call Maior”, was a kind of city in its own right; it was also walled and had its own entrances. Unfortunately, there is not much left of this Jewish quarter, which was destroyed and burned to the ground. However, the history is still there, you just have to look for it. You can still see details and features that help us draw in Palma’s Call Maior neighbourhood.
We begin our route at the Plaça de Cort, next to the symbolic “Olivera de Cort”, a stunning ancient olive tree (1). From there, we go down Carrer Palau Reial to Carrer de l’Almudaina, until we get to the arch with the same name. Make the most of the stop by visiting the interesting Centre Maimó ben Faraig (2), also located on the same street. It is a great place to learn about Palma’s medieval Jewish history from the 14th century. We continue our route down Carrer d'En Morey and Carrer Portella to the Museum of Mallorca (3), where we will see some archaeological remnants from the Jewish era. Now we will head onto Carrer Pont i Vich to Carrer Sol (4), considered the main entrance to Palma’s Jewish site. At the top of the street, on the ground, we can see a plaque commemorating the old entrance to Call Maior. The street leading up to this entrance is actually called Carrer del Call. Now we head towards Carrer de Can Dusai (5). The grand arch at its junction with Carrer Montesión suggests that both were main streets in Palma’s Jewish quarter. It is now time for one for the main stops on the route: the Iglesia de Montesión (Mount Zion) church (6). The original main synagogue stood here before the church was built. The few remaining features of the synagogue form part of the foundations of the current building, running from the right-hand side of the façade, to the building’s rear. If you look closely at this section, you will see that in between the stones belonging to the original synagogue, there are tiny pieces of paper with wishes written on them.
Our route carries on until we get to the fork between Carrer de les Escoles and Carrer de la Pelleteria, we then take Carrer Call again and continue towards Carrer de Santa Eulalia (7). This street is said to be the main street of Palma’s Jewish quarter. From there, we follow Carrer de l’Argenteria, Carrer de les Set Cantons and Carrer Colom, passing through Plaça Marqués del Palmer and Carrer Forn del Racó until we get to the steps of Costa del Teatre (8), which along with Carrer Sant Bartomeu, Carrer de l’Argenteria, Carrer Bosseria, Carrer Monges, Carrer Jaume II, Carrer Reixa and Plaça Major, made up the so-called Call Menor, where we finish our journey.
Restaurants nearby
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