“In the ancient city of Úbeda, stands a formerly unknown synagogue with a medieval [mikveh](https://www.jta.org/2022/01/26/global/in-spain-small-towns-are-unearthing-ancient-synagogues-to-resurrect-jewish-history-and-attract-tourists), or ritual bath, which gives it a nickname: the Synagogue of Water. Buried under the bedrock of the city’s surrounding houses, the synagogue lay undisturbed until it was accidentally unearthed in 2007. Its discovery astonished the property’s owners, who were developing apartments for tourists and a parking lot. After three years of excavations and restorations, the synagogue opened its doors to the public as a museum in 2010. The Synagogue of Water is divided into seven interconnected chambers, including the well-preserved mikveh. The pool, situated on the lowest floor, was carved into natural rock and is illuminated by picturesque beams of natural sunlight, giving it a mystical quality. For centuries, natural water from a well has flowed through it, renewing itself every day. Scholars believe that there is only one other record of a similar natural mikveh in Spain, in the small Catalan town of Besalú. Many Jewish sites of worship scattered throughout the Spanish peninsula, however, are hidden underground with no documented evidence of their existence. After 1492 — the year Jews were expelled from Spain through the Inquisition — most were abandoned, and many were built over or subsumed into other buildings. Some of the few prominent ones left intact today were repurposed into Roman Catholic churches, such as El Tránsito and Santa Maria la Blanca in Toledo, the Córdoba synagogue and Corpus Christi in Segovia.”
thekingestkong on
Very cool, thanks for sharing.
DippyHippy420 on
A mikvah is a pool of water — some of it from a natural source — in which observant married Jewish women are required to dip once a month, seven days after the end of their menstrual cycle.
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“In the ancient city of Úbeda, stands a formerly unknown synagogue with a medieval [mikveh](https://www.jta.org/2022/01/26/global/in-spain-small-towns-are-unearthing-ancient-synagogues-to-resurrect-jewish-history-and-attract-tourists), or ritual bath, which gives it a nickname: the Synagogue of Water. Buried under the bedrock of the city’s surrounding houses, the synagogue lay undisturbed until it was accidentally unearthed in 2007. Its discovery astonished the property’s owners, who were developing apartments for tourists and a parking lot. After three years of excavations and restorations, the synagogue opened its doors to the public as a museum in 2010. The Synagogue of Water is divided into seven interconnected chambers, including the well-preserved mikveh. The pool, situated on the lowest floor, was carved into natural rock and is illuminated by picturesque beams of natural sunlight, giving it a mystical quality. For centuries, natural water from a well has flowed through it, renewing itself every day. Scholars believe that there is only one other record of a similar natural mikveh in Spain, in the small Catalan town of Besalú. Many Jewish sites of worship scattered throughout the Spanish peninsula, however, are hidden underground with no documented evidence of their existence. After 1492 — the year Jews were expelled from Spain through the Inquisition — most were abandoned, and many were built over or subsumed into other buildings. Some of the few prominent ones left intact today were repurposed into Roman Catholic churches, such as El Tránsito and Santa Maria la Blanca in Toledo, the Córdoba synagogue and Corpus Christi in Segovia.”
Very cool, thanks for sharing.
A mikvah is a pool of water — some of it from a natural source — in which observant married Jewish women are required to dip once a month, seven days after the end of their menstrual cycle.
Drums… drums in the deep.
Looks like Indiana Jones
They’re digging in the wrong place!