The Sephardic Route Hervas - Spain: Located in the north of the province of Caceres, Hervas in the Ambroz river valley, is an area that was occupied in succession by Celts and Iberians, Phoenicians and Greeks, Hervás emerged towards the end of the 12th century with the advance of the Castilian king Alfonso VIII and the recovery of a region devastated by the Almohads, whose early population were the Knights Templar.

Very soon, in the 13th century, coinciding with the first documents mentioning it by name, Hervás saw the arrival of the first contingent of Jews from various different aljamas in Andalusia and Castile. They soon built their own neighbourhood on the banks of the river, forming an unusual group of buildings that has been preserved until now, and which was declared a Historical and Artistic Site in 1969.

With connections to the Jewish quarter in Béjar, the aljama in Hervas was devoted to agriculture and, in particular, vineyards, as well as trades and crafts. Settling in the “Lower Quarter”, the town’s Jewish population would go up to the “Upper Quarter”, along the Cuestecilla, while the Christians from the upper part of the city would go down to the Jewish quarter along the Calle de Abajo. The main building materials for the houses in the Jewish quarters were rough stone and adobe, making use of the nearby riverbank, along with wood from local chestnut trees. They were built on two storeys with an attic that was used as storage for cereals or as a larder.

The tale of the Maruxa, or the Errant Jewess, is another of the town’s oldest traditions. Quite a number of locals, on their evening walks near the Chiquita fountain, claim to have heard the grievous sobbing of the young Jewess who was in love with a handsome young Christian. She protected him with her own body and died alongside him when her father sent hired assassins to kill him. Buried in a secret place beside the river Ambroz, far from the Hebrew cemetery, the Maruxa only appears to warn of some approaching misfortune…