Urban Planning And New Towns In Medieval Sardinia 549
6 Jewish Districts in Sardinian Cities
The main towns of Cagliari, Oristano, Iglesias, Sassari, and Alghero featured
Jewish districts that are traceable to the fourteenth century, but were perhaps
more widespread and longer established in smaller towns. In the cities, Jewish
districts were consistently located in a well-defined site with significant eco-
nomic and commercial activity, and in direct proximity to the seat of power,
with which their relations were varied. Jewish residents from Iglesias faced
exile in the Aragonese era (early fourteenth century), which may have been
precipitated by their influence over the silver market; their coreligionists from
Cagliari also lost their homes for a period. The Jewish presence in Sardinian
cities was clearly a component of great economic importance and, as a result
of the expulsion of the Jews from the kingdom of Spain in 1492, they faced
economic loss and the progressive decay of segments of their ancient Jewish
quarters.103
Furthermore, in some cities the foundation of monumental Jesuit complex-
es saw the demolition of Jewish quarters during a process of urban transfor-
mation. This was one of the most important events in some Sardinian towns
during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. In Cagliari and
Alghero, and to varying degrees in other centers, Jesuit convents reconstruct-
ed former Jewish areas with development plans that eliminated the previous
road network, shaped by group of houses around communal courtyards and
small alleys, in favor of “well-ordered” crossroads. This symbol, according to a
long urban planning tradition, ensured the “Christianization” of Jewish places,
where the construction of churches dedicated to the Holy Cross tended to re-
place former synagogues.104
103 Until the demise of the 1492 Sardinian giuderie, they were the location of significant busi-
nesses, synagogues, cemeteries, and schools. Their populations included doctors, silver-
smiths, money changers, and bankers; or, as in Alghero, the Carcassonne, contractors for
the collection of taxes. Their economic power led them to sponsor some works of archi-
tecture, such as the tower (later dedicated to the Holy Cross) on the walls of Alghero.
The Jewish community also contributed to building Cagliari (infra Tasca). Cecilia Tasca,
Gli ebrei in Sardegna nel XIV secolo: società, cultura, istituzioni (Cagliari, 1992); Cadinu, “Il
progetto della città,” pp. 198–204.
104 Marco Cadinu, “Ristrutturazioni urbanistiche nel segno della croce delle Juharias
della Sardegna dopo il 1492,” Storia dell’Urbanistica. Annuario Nazionale di Storia della
Città e del Territorio n.s. 3/1997 (1999), pp. 198–204. Marco Cadinu, Andrea Pirinu, and
Marcello Schirru, “Letture catastali, rilievi, e documenti per la lettura delle architetture e
dell’urbanistica dell’area di Santa Croce del Castello di Cagliari,” in Cadinu, I Catasti e la
storia dei luoghi (2013), pp. 509–541.