The Synagogue of El Tránsito

Phone: 925 223 665

Fax: 925 215 831

Website: www.museosefardi.net

Location

In the Paseo del Tránsito.

Type of monument

Religious Architecture

History

It was part of a sumptuous palace built in the 15th century and it was erected in the days when the Jewish community had an enviable position in the society of the era, with privileged posts in the Administration and Tax Collection Authorities. King Don Pedro even openly protected the Jews, and synagogues saw their heyday under his reign (1350-1369), as they were protected even when a Papal Bulla had banned the erection of new Hebrew temples, and only allowed the refurbishment of those already constructed.

These were years of splendour but it also marked the end of an era for a community whose luck was about to change tragically.

Period

14th century, between 1355 and 1357.

Art style

Toledan Mudejar.

How to get there

Road transport

It was built on the commission of Samuel-ha-Levi Abulafia (tax collector to the court of King Pedro I of Castilla), between the years 1355 and 1357, as a private chapel in the palace that, in a grandiloquent gesture improper of a Jew he had ordered be built on the bank of the Tagus, the limit being the river itself.

The synagogue, conceived as the palace oratory, and with which it was directly connected, is the only surviving structure.

Its simple design as room is similar to many Christian chapels in palaces and castles of the period, although it has much higher walls than them and an interior space of an insuperable geometrical clarity and cleanliness. It is roofed with a rich wooden coffered ceiling of larch with ivory incrustations and painted decorations.

As occurs with Santa María la Blanca, the outer austerity contrasts with the sumptuous interior decoration, so close to the "horror vacui" of the eastern peoples, that is to say a fear of emptiness that makes them cover walls completely with rich, overflowing decoration.

In Santa María del Tránsito the facing is based on the application of Mudejar-style plasterwork exceptionally delicately worked. The ornamental theme is closely limited to heraldry and epigraphy, following the precepts of Mosaic law there are no human or animal figures. In it we can see the arms of Castilla and León, under texts in scrolls that run along the frieze praising the figures of King Pedro, Samuel Leví, who is described as a man of war and peace, a great builder, and his architect, the rabbi don Mayr, interwoven with the psalms of David praises to Yahveh, in gratitude for the protection granted him.

The front of the wall is profusely decorated with "ataurique", a vegetable decoration of Moorish creation. On the south wall we can still see the holes destined to house the wooden beams of the tribune reserved for the women, from where they took part, hidden and separated from the men by latticework, in the liturgical acts.

Timetables

From Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 2pm and 4pm to 9pm.
Sundays and Public Holidays, 10am to 2pm.

Fees

General: €2.40.