CHAPTER 7: THE SIX GATES – ACCESS AND CONTROL

CHAPTER 7: THE SIX GATES – ACCESS AND CONTROL Narrator: Ibn Gabirol (Shelomó ibn Gabirol, 1021-1058/70) Direction and Production: Javier Bona López Documentation and Advisory: Miguel Ángel Motis Dolader (Universidad San Jorge de Zaragoza) Summary The gates of the judería were not simple openings in a wall. They were vital organs that regulated the existence of the Jewish community of Zaragoza. Ibn Gabirol guides you through the six thresholds that defined the borders of the Old Jewish Quarter: from the imposing Puerta Ferriza, with its Hebrew inscriptions that provoked tension with Christians, to the Trenque de San Andrés, which remained open day and night by royal order for the queen's physician. Discover how these gates were both shield and cage, connection and isolation. How they closed each night at the sound of a bell, turning the neighborhood into a sealed fortress. And how during Holy Week and Corpus Christi, the confinement became absolute, transforming the stone labyrinth into a prison under the accusation of deicide. A story about power, control, and the precarious existence of a minority in the heart of a medieval city. Narrator: Ibn Gabirol (Shelomó ibn Gabirol, Medieval Jewish Quarter of Zaragoza Direction and Production: Javier Bona López Documentation and Advisory: Miguel Ángel Motis Dolader (Universidad San Jorge de Zaragoza) SOURCES Main Sources: • Asunción Blasco Martínez. The Jewish Quarter of Zaragoza in the 14th Century. Instituto Fernando el Católico (IFC), 1988. • Miguel Ángel Motis Dolader. The Jewish Quarter of Zaragoza: Center of Economic and Social Life. Rolde de Estudios Aragoneses. • Miguel Ángel Motis-Dolader, Ana Ruiz-Varona, Lourdes Pérez-López. Urban Morphology and Functional Hierarchy of the Jewish Quarter of Zaragoza (Spain) at the End of the Fifteenth Century. Journal of Urban History, 2023. • Ángel Canellas López. The Jewish Quarter of Zaragoza. Cuadernos de Zaragoza, No. 2, 1974. • Asunción Blasco Martínez & Susana Lozano Gracia. The Jewish Quarter of Zaragoza – Step by Step. Zaragoza City Council, 2023. • Sefarad Aragón. The Disappeared Jewish Quarter of Zaragoza. Self-published, 2010. • Leopoldo Torres Balbás. Studies on the Jewish Quarter of Zaragoza and Its Baths. • Cultural Heritage of Aragón. Institutional records. • Guide to the Jewish Quarter of Zaragoza. Zaragoza City Council. • Zaragoza Municipal Archive (AMZ). Historical maps. Final Note: “If you enjoyed this chapter, I invite you to share it and help spread the word. You can also listen to our other series on the medieval Jewish quarters of Calatayud, Tarazona, and Híjar on the three main podcasting platforms.” Zakhor. Remember. Series: Medieval Jewish Quarter of Zaragoza Platform: iVoox Zakhor. Remember.