Portal de Lorca
www.portaldelorca.com
The Mayor of Lorca, Fulgencio Gil, together with the Councilor for Tourism, Francisco Montiel, reported that our municipality, after intense work by municipal technicians, has achieved pre-selection to join the Network of Spanish Jewish Quarters, a milestone for which it has been necessary a broad outreach campaign about the valuable Hebrew heritage that was discovered in the vicinity of the castle of our city, within the medieval walled city.
Fulgencio Gil has anticipated that it will be next January 9 when we have the opportunity to promote our candidacy during a meeting to that effect in Madrid, for which we will have a 30-minute exhibition.
The challenge is to enter this Association constituted by municipalities that have, in their medieval ensembles, an architectural, historical, environmental and cultural heritage, heritage of the Jewish communities that inhabited them.
The members of the Network act jointly in defense of the historical heritage and Jewish legacy, promoting cultural, tourist and academic projects and carrying out a policy of exchange of national and international experiences that contribute to the knowledge and mutual respect of peoples, cultures and traditions.
We are talking about important cities such as Ávila, Barcelona, ​​Cáceres, Calahorra, Córdoba, Estella-Lizarra, Hervás, Jaén, León, Lucena, Monforte de Lemos, Oviedo, Plasencia, Ribadavia, Segovia, Tarazona, Toledo and Tudela. As we are doing in our case during the last 15 years, they are recovering their Jewish quarters, investing time and resources in the rehabilitation of houses, streets, palaces and how many buildings can be saved from oblivion and recover the knowledge of the lives of Jewish families of all origin and condition.
Hidden history, unveiled after five hundred years and now recovered.
The Association acts non-profit and with full independence in the defense of this legacy.
The Network of Spanish Jewish Quarters, in its international projection, is a founding member of the European Route of the Jewish Heritage, and carries out an intense work of diffusion abroad.
Lorca, gateway to Sefarad.
It should be noted that Lorca has presented an ambitious project of history, photographs and videos to join the Network of Jewish Quarters '' Caminos de Sefarad ''.
The city is postulated as a strong candidate thanks to its Jewish past and the existence of important archaeological remains that join the exhibition "Luces de Sefarad" and the itinerant exhibition "Footprints of Jewish Culture", which has toured important cities related to the Jewish area such as Lucena, Toledo, Ávila or Córdoba, members of the Jewish Network of Spain, among others.
It was in 2003 when the Lorca Synagogue was discovered, accompanied by the appearance of significant elements such as the janukkía, facts that made possible the identification of the Jewish quarter of Medieval Lorca, located in the eastern part of the castle, with a complex synagogue, given the existing relationship between the synagogue building and a house.
In particular, the dating of the Synagogue building corresponds to the first half of the 15th century, when the population grew considerably and it became necessary to build a building that could meet the needs of that group.
The importance of these findings on the Jewish presence in Lorca, resulted in the exhibition "Lights of Sepharad", which opened in 2009 in Murcia, having visited the Spanish capital in 2015. In addition, 3 of the ritual lamps discovered in The excavations of the Synagogue were part of the exhibition entitled "Bibles of Sefarad" which was held at the National Library of Spain in Madrid.
The existence of these important archaeological remains has had a positive impact on the City of the Sun, including, among other events, the organization of visits from Jerusalem and Jewish institutions around the world, including the Chief Sephardi Rabbi of Israel.
It should be noted that in parallel to the process to get the incorporation of Lorca to this network, from the City Council, with the support of the Regional Government, progress is being made to value the Jewish heritage, especially the Synagogue, in order to contribute to explain the importance of this temple and the relevance of the Hebrew legacy existing in the Jewish quarter of the Lorca fortress.
In fact, the people who visit it can already enjoy the new musealization in which 207,834 euros have been invested entirely by the food company Elpozo Murcia, a firm that demonstrated its commitment and generosity with the municipality leading the contributions for the recovery of heritage monumental city, seriously damaged by the serious effects of the earthquakes of 2011. This donation was channeled through the line of patronage open to the effect by the City.
The approximate area that has benefited from the intervention that has been developed covers a total area of ​​214.80 m2.
Our city is organized since 2013 a Festival of Jewish Culture, "Jewish Festival", which in collaboration with Casa Sefarad, offers the union of culture and leisure in a unique setting as is the Castle of Lorca.
It is also worth noting the participation for some years in the European Day of Jewish Culture, and the activities carried out in Cordoba on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of its Synagogue.
The Mayor has indicated that precisely on Saturday at 18:00 will take place the traditional hanukka, a celebration celebrated by the Jewish culture that recalls the miracle for which a minimum amount of oil to light the Menorah of the Temple, burned for 8 days in a row , the time needed to produce a new oil supply.
Since then, in the Jewish culture this festival is celebrated for eight days, each night a candle is lit, taking the oil from the main candle or "shamash", until the eighth candle.
Source: Ayuntamiento de Lorca
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