Valladolid - Monday, July 9, 2007

Auto da Fe

On our drive from Segovia north to Amusco to see the little synagogue that had been made into a restaurant we had skirted by Valladolid.

Now on our return to the area we were on a mission.

About halfway between Burgos and Valladolid lays a town with an ominous name.

While Tomás de Torquemada was born in Valladolid, it is possible that the family originated in this town. A variety of sources suggest that his grandmother was a converso (a coincidence that we’ll encounter again in Ávila). Our sole interest in getting off the highway and visiting the city was to see the Plaza Major and learn if we could find a bit of modern evidence that relates to the significance of the town for pre-Expulsion Jewish life.
Standing beneath this sign,

and looking out into this plaza where we asked someone to take what became our “official” photo of that day.
From that sign, which reads:

Half of the square had become a huge tablado with graderíos and boxes, lying in the convent of San Francisco and giving face adorned with the Consistory teaches dosele and gold and silver brocades.

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